NEW YORK (August 23, 2010) - VERSUS and the Professional Bull Riders announced that their current eight-year partnership will continue through the 2011 season.
As part of the extension, the PBR will now take responsibility for producing the elite Built Ford Tough Series telecasts on VERSUS.
“We’ve enjoyed a great relationship with the PBR for many years and are excited to be able to extend that partnership,” said Marc Fein, Executive Vice President of Programming, Production and Business Operations for VERSUS. “Professional Bull Riding is one of the toughest sports around and we look forward to continuing to showcase it to a national audience.”
“We are happy to continue our long-standing relationship with VERSUS,” said PBR President and COO Sean Gleason. “We’re excited to put more of a direct imprint on the production of our events, and will share details about this in the weeks ahead.”
VERSUS began broadcasting the PBR in 2002 and televises the elite Built Ford Tough Series on Saturdays and Sundays and the PBR World Finals each October from Las Vegas. More than 100 million viewers tune in each year to watch approximately 400 hours of prime-time PBR programming each year.
The PBR has awarded over $100 million in prize money and 20 riders have earned over $1 million including Justin McBride with $5.5 million, the most of any western-sports athlete in history. The PBR was nominated as 2010 Sports League of the Year at the Sports Business Journal Sports Business Awards alongside the National Football League, National Basketball Association and Major League Baseball. Nearly two million fans attend elite Built Ford Tough Series and Touring Pro Division events each year. For more information on the PBR, go to www.pbr.com, or follow on Facebook at www.facebook.com/TeamPBR and http://twitter.com/TEAMPBR.
