The Professional Bull Riders, Inc. (PBR) is an international professional bull riding organization headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, United States. It is the largest bull riding league in the world, sanctioning hundreds of events every year in the United States, Canada, Brazil, and Australia. Over 800 bull riders from said countries, as well as others, hold PBR memberships.2020 PBR Media Guide, PBR & Bull Riding Basics - The PBR at a Glance, p.4.
History The organization was founded on April 12, 1992, through the efforts of businessman Sam Applebaum and 20 professional bull riders; David Bailey Jr., Clint Branger, Mark Cain, Adam Carrillo, Gilbert Carrillo, Cody Custer, Jerome Davis, Bobby DelVecchio, Mike Erickson, David Fournier, Michael Gaffney, Tuff Hedeman, Cody Lambert, Scott Mendes, Daryl Mills, Ty Murray, Ted Nuce, Aaron Semas, Jim Sharp, and Brent Thurman; most of whom gathered in a hotel room in Scottsdale, Arizona. The bull riders all rode in the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA), the top rodeo organization in the world which had been around for many years, as well as Bull Riders Only (BRO), an all-bull riding organization that had been in existence for just one year. Each founder contributed $1,000 to forming the Professional Bull Riders, Inc. This group was seeking to break away from the rules set by the PRCA and BRO, and form their own bull riding competitions, which included them as well as other top bull riders. "We wanted to create a better product for the fans, so that when they tuned in they were seeing the best of the best every time," said PBR co-founder and nine-time world champion rodeo cowboy Ty Murray,2018 PBR Media Guide, The PBR Story, p. 3. who later served as the president.
The PBR put on a small series of events in 1993 with Bud Light as the primary sponsor, and had its first championship season in 1994 with the Bud Light Cup Series (BLC). The organization has since grown to include five tours in the United States which stage over 100 events every year. Prize money for contestants had exploded from over $330,000 in 1994 to over $11 million in 2008.
The original CEO of the PBR was Sam Applebaum. Randy Bernard became CEO of the PBR in 1995, a position he held until he resigned in 2010 to become the CEO of INDYCAR. When Bernard took over the position of CEO in 1995, it was just after the conclusion of the first World Finals at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. At that time, the PBR's bank account held $8,000 and the organization was $140,000 in debt. Bernard, a bold and wise businessman, quickly went to work. At the end of his first year, he turned things around; the World Finals paid out $1 million in 1996, and increased to $1.5 million in 1999.
In 1996, the PBR made bull riding protective vests, which were introduced three years earlier, mandatory for all contestants at their events. The same was done for bull riders in all other organizations.
After a few years of rivalry between BRO and PBR, the former organization officially went out of business in the spring of 1998.
In 2001, one month after that year's World Finals, the PBR held the Bud Light World Challenge in Austin, Texas, which featured the top riders from the 2001 year-end world standings, as well as some international invitees.
2002 was the last year in which PBR bullfighters wore traditional make-up and baggy outfits. Since the 2003 season, they wear sport jerseys and shorts that feature corporate sponsor logos.
Also in 2003, Ford Trucks, an official PBR sponsor since 2001, replaced Bud Light as the new Premier Series title sponsor; thus the Bud Light Cup Series became the Built Ford Tough Series (BFTS). Bud Light would remain a PBR sponsor through 2007. PBR world champions had always received a year-end money bonus, but starting in 2003, they received a $1 million bonus. Chris Shivers was the first world champion to claim that bonus.2020 PBR Media Guide, PBR & Bull Riding Basics - On the Dirt Milestones, p. 6.
Also in 2003, the PBR purchased Buckers, Inc.; an organization that documented bucking bulls' lineages and put on futurity events for stock contractors to showcase their young bulls for potential use in professional rodeo or bull riding events. They renamed it as American Bucking Bull, Inc. (ABBI) and continued with its practices. The ABBI holds several futurity events in the United States every year and the ABBI Finals have been held every autumn since 2004 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
In 2005, the PBR opened offices in Canada, Mexico, Brazil, and Australia to produce tours in said countries starting the next year.
In 2006, just shortly after that year's World Finals, the PBR held two events in Hawaii. The first was a regular lower-level event, the Myron Duarte Maui Challenge in Wailuku, followed by an event in Honolulu, the Cheeseburger Island Style Hawaii All-Star Challenge, which featured the top 15 riders from the 2006 year-end world standings, as well as five riders that were voted online by fans to compete at the event.
In April 2007, investment firm Spire Capital Partners acquired a majority stake in PBR."2020 PBR Media Guide" "The PBR Story", p. 3.
In 2008, the PBR launched the Million Dollar Bull Team Challenge; a series of events in which stock contractor bucked a certain number of bulls at select Built Ford Tough Series events to try to earn money and points for their respective teams. At the beginning of the year, 22 bull teams chipped in $50,000 a piece for their opportunity to win their share of the $1.1 million total competition purse. Out of the 33 Built Ford Tough Series stops held that year, 17 were Bull Team Challenge events, including the PBR World Finals. Each stop had between five and eight bull teams that included five bulls, plus two alternates per team. Each team could only compete in five events. At each Bull Team Challenge stop, the first place team won $20,000, while second place won $10,000. The top bull teams then competed at the PBR World Finals for a $500,000 purse, with $250,000 going to the champion team. The PBR discontinued the Million Dollar Bull Team Challenge after just one year. However, the concept was picked up by another bull riding organization, Championship Bull Riding (CBR) the following year, and the CBR Bull Team Challenge hosted several bull teams competing at regular events, as well as the CBR World Finals. The bull teams racked up points and money and from 2010 to 2018, a year-end CBR Bull Team Challenge champion was crowned. After CBR went out of business in the summer of 2018, the Million Bull Team Challenge returned to its roots by rejoining the PBR and its events are now held at U.S. lower-level PBR events.
In the summer of 2008, the PBR Team Shootout was held. This was a series of five events in which the top 20 riders in the PBR world standings each selected a rider of their choice, and as a team competed against each other for the Team Shootout championship. Each team rode in two of the first four events, held respectively in Del Mar, California; Paso Robles, California; Molalla, Oregon; and Guthrie, Oklahoma. Then, the top 10 teams rode at the finals event in Pueblo, Colorado.
2009 was the first year in which most of the contestants on the PBR's televised Premier Series rode with helmets instead of cowboy hats.
In 2010, a week before the start of that year's World Finals, the PBR held an event in New York City's Times Square which featured the top 10 riders competing for the chance to receive additional points towards the world standings.
On February 23, 2011, the PBR announced that Jim Haworth had become its new CEO. Then on June 29, 2015, the PBR announced that Haworth was promoted to Chairman, while COO Sean Gleason had become the new CEO.
After several years of only holding events in the United States, the ABBI expanded to having futurity events as well as year-end finals in Canada, Australia, and Brazil by the 2010s. After a few years, ABBI Brazil was discontinued, but was revived in late 2024. The ABBI also planned to hold events in Mexico by 2021. However, said project never materialized.
Beginning with the 2013 season, the PBR made it mandatory that all contestants at their events who were born on or after October 15, 1994, ride with a full bull riding helmet. Those born before that date were grandfathered in and permitted to ride with a protective face mask underneath their cowboy hat or simply with their cowboy hat if so desired.
In 2014, shortly before that year's World Finals, the PBR held an event at a beach in Huntington Beach, California, aptly titled "Bulls on the Beach", which featured the top 15 riders attempting to gain additional points towards the world standings.
In April 2015, it was announced that events and talent management firm WME-IMG (now Endeavor) would acquire PBR from Spire Capital Partners, reportedly paying around $100 million.
In 2018, Monster Energy, a PBR sponsor since 2013, replaced Ford Trucks as the new Premier Series title sponsor; thus the Unleash the Beast Series (UTB) tour name replaced the Built Ford Tough Series (BFTS) tour name. That same year, the PBR celebrated its 25th championship season and awarded another $11 million in prize money, which included the bonus to the World Champion Bull Rider of $1 million and the $20,000 gold belt buckle.2020 PBR Media Guide, PBR & Bull Riding Basics - Celebrating 25 Years: A Quarter Century of the Most Exciting 8 Seconds in Sport, p. 9. Ford would remain a PBR sponsor through 2022.
In mid-March 2020, because of the COVID-19 pandemic, several events were either cancelled or rescheduled to later dates. In the spring, the PBR held three UTB events at the Lazy E Arena in Guthrie, Oklahoma, and all were closed to the public to avoid the spread of the virus. In the summer, the organization held the Monster Energy Team Challenge, a series of events in which several teams of four riders competed against each other, and each team was represented by a corporate sponsor. The regular events were held at the South Point Arena in Las Vegas, while the series finale was held at the Denny Sanford Premier Center in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. While the regular events were closed to the public, the championship event allowed fans to attend, but in limited numbers and they needed to socially distance themselves. For the rest of the year, PBR events, including the World Finals, consisted of limited and socially distanced crowds.
The length of the PBR World Finals has changed throughout its history. The inaugural 1994 World Finals was a two-day event; the 1995 World Finals was a five-day event; from 1996 through 2003, it lasted four days; from 2004 through 2009 it lasted seven days, but was split into two weekends, with the first three days taking place the first weekend, followed by the next four days taking the following weekend; from 2010 through 2019, it was again a five-day event; in 2020 and 2021, it was again a four-day event; in 2022 and 2023, it went back to being a seven-day event with the first three days taking place one weekend, then the next four days taking place the following weekend. Since 2024, the World Finals is an eight-day event; the first four days of the event are followed by two days off, then the next two days are followed by another day off, then the final two days conclude the event.