New York, NY (October 16, 2010) - Ten of the PBR’s best riders gathered with PBR executives, including Executive Chairman Jeffrey Pollack, at the NASDAQ building in Times Square. They shook hands and mingled with VIPs and loyal sponsors.
Their day had begun with live remote interviews with reporters from Bloomberg News, who also spoke with Pollack and stock contractor Jeff Robinson.
Many feet below, New York City police officers kept a close watch on the gathering crowd. The broadcast team of Craig Hummer, Ty Murray, Justin McKee and Erin Coscarelli arrived, and began their preparations for what will be Sunday afternoon’s CBS broadcast.
Brandon Bates made his way from the NASDAQ building to work on coordinating with CBS producers. He’d cover some commercial breaks, while the others would be filled with PBR videos broadcast throughout Times Square.
And still, the crowd grew.
Even Ty Murray mused, “Some of those people needed to get to wherever they were going, but they stopped and invested two hours of their time. I mean, most times people like that stop for a little bit and then they go on their way.”
Finally at 1 p.m. ET, it was on. As the first gate opened, the New York media jockeyed for position.
Originally, they were to fill in a media pit along the Walgreen’s side of the arena. But a crush of spectators on all sides spread them around. All admired the monstrous size and power of the bulls.
In fact, after Silvano Alves bucked off Bandalero, one of the local security personnel remarked, “OK, my heart rate just went up. This is for real.”
Afterward, the media was led into the arena and the riders made their way from one outlet to another, fielding inquires from the serious to the not-so-serious.
When it was over, the riders returned to the NASDAQ building for the closing bell.
Later that night, all but McKennon Wimberly went to Madison Square Garden to watch the New York Rangers take on the Toronto Maple Leafs. Wimberly was in Syracuse for an appearance at Bass Pro Shops.
All nine of them were given their own game-replica sweaters. During a break in the action, a two-minute recap of the Times Square event was shown on the scoreboard, promoting the upcoming 2011 Built Ford Tough Series event January 7 at The Garden.
But even after a whirlwind stop in New York, there’s no time for rest. Beginning Monday, the Top 53 professional bull riders in the world will head to Las Vegas for the PBR World Finals.
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