Las Vegas— Opportunity Rocks!

Posted Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Las Vegas is just around the corner and I’m
really looking forward to both the PBR and
ABBI Finals this year.
I truly believe the PBR fans are some of the
best in the world and a lot of those fans are
starting to discover the ABBI and what it is all
about. Las Vegas is a great opportunity to
expose more people to the excitement of
competitive bucking bull competitions and
I think we’ll be able to reach a lot of new
fans with the way things are struc-
tured this year.
The long round of the
Classic will take place during
Round 3 of the PBR World Finals. The short
round will be held during Round 4. Not only
will all those fans in the seats at Thomas &
Mack get to see the talent the ABBI has in
our Classic bulls, we’ll also be reaching
about a million people around the globe
with the television broadcasts. Those of you
with a bull qualified for the Classic Finals
know the value of the exposure of having
your bull bucking on prime time television.
And for those of you thinking about entering
the Wild Card on that Thursday before the
Finals, I’d encourage you to take that oppor-
tunity if you have a bull that you think
belongs among the big boys.
The top four Wild Card bulls will get to go
on to buck on Sunday alongside the 40 qual-
ified Classic bulls. The bull that comes out on
top after the short round wins $250,000—
nothing to sneeze at unless you’re used to
blowing your nose with million-dollar
bills.
We’re also doing something new
with the Futurity Finals this year.
Both the long and short round will
be held at Wrangler University.
Wrangler U is a specially constructed arena
in the heart of the PBR’s FanZone at
Mandalay Bay. Not only will the fans get to
watch what our 2-year-olds can do, we’ll also
get a lot of foot traffic from Las Vegas visitors
and residents curious to see what the
FanZone is all about. I think this will be an
opportunity for us to educate a lot of people
about the ABBI and grow our fanbase.
I’m especially thrilled that our Junior
members will have a chance to showcase
their bulls at Wrangler U as well. Wrangler U
will host an exhibition buck of the top Junior
Futurity Bulls from our three regular season
events. This will be a fun event for the entire
family and should inspire more kids to get
involved with the bucking bull business.
Instead of just dreaming of riding bulls,
hopefully we can inspire some cowboys and
cowgirls to start raising them.
Wrangler U will also be the site of the
annual Mutton Bustin’ competitions, which is
always great family entertainment.
I hope that whether or not you have bulls
competing you’ll come out to support the
sport and your fellow breeders. There are so
many great opportunities to network and
meet other breeders—like the ABBI’s
Bowling Tournament, the Bull Pen Bash and
the numerous social events on the PBR’s
schedule.
The ABBI’s free educational seminars are
also an invaluable tool, as are the judging
seminars (they’re open to all, not just
judges). And, if you are looking to start,
increase or improve your herd, it sounds like
this year’s ABBI Sale will be phenomenal.
Hope to see you in Las Vegas!