PBR Invades North Carolina for Two Action-Packed Performances

By Katharine Sherrer, PBR
Posted Thursday, January 29, 2009

Don't miss PBR's only televised stop in the Tar Heel State.

PUEBLO, Colo. (January 27, 2009) - The Professional Bull Riders, Inc. (PBR) whirlwind January schedule sends the world’s best bull riders to the Lawrence Joel Veteran’s Memorial Coliseum for the Copenhagen Bull Riding Invitational presented by Pike Electric for the second consecutive year. At 8 p.m. on Friday, January 30 and 7:50 p.m. on Saturday, January 31, the PBR’s elite Built Ford Tough Series (BFTS) will showcase the top 40 bull riders in the world as they compete for the coveted event title.

For as little as $10 and increasing to $20, $30, $50, and $100, PBR fans, new and old, will not only see the toughest athletes on earth, they will also experience more than two hours of edge-of-your-seat thrills and spills, rock & roll music, and pyrotechnics. Tickets can be purchased at the Lawrence Joel Veteran’s Memorial Coliseum Box Office, www.ticketmaster.com, or by phone at 336 722 6400. (standard ticket fees may apply)

During two nights of heart-pounding, bone-crushing action, fans will see Team Copenhagen bull riders J.B. Mauney (Mooresville, N.C.) and two-time PBR World Champ Chris Shivers (Jonesville, La.); home state bull rider Brian Canter (Randleman, N.C.); 2008 PBR World Champion Guilherme Marchi (Leme, SP, Brazil); past World Champs Mike Lee (Decatur, Texas) – 2004 and Ednei Caminhas (P. Alves, SP, Brazil) – 2002; and PBR fan favorites Ross Coleman (Molalla, Ore.), Luke Snyder (Raymore, Mo.), and Cord McCoy (Tupelo, Okla.). Challenging these men will be the fiercest bulls in the world today.

The Copenhagen Bull Riding Invitational will consist of three rounds of competition with the first two rounds featuring the top 40 bull riders randomly matched against the PBR’s toughest bulls. The scores from the two rides will be combined and the riders with the top 15 scores will advance to the Built Ford Tough Championship Round after intermission on Saturday. In the end, the cowboy with the highest total score on three bulls will be declared the winner!

This is the PBR’s ONLY televised event stop in North Carolina during the 2009 season. The event will air on NBC on Saturday, January 31 at 4:30 p.m. EST. Then at 8 p.m. EST, VERSUS will air the second performance LIVE. Please check your local listings for times and more information.

The PBR is the premiere bull riding organization in the world, boasting contestants from the United States, Mexico, Australia, Brazil, and Canada. Its events air weekly on VERSUS, NBC, and FOX, and in recent years, it has been tagged the ‘fastest growing sport in the country.’ For more information on the Copenhagen Bull Riding Invitational presented by Pike Electric, please visit www.pbrnow.com or contact Katharine Sherrer at 719.252.6967.

About the PBR:
More than 100 million viewers tune in each year to the PBR on FOX, NBC, ESPN, VERSUS, and on a host of foreign networks across the globe. With approximately 500 hours of prime time programming annually, PBR ranks among the most prolific sports on air, in addition to attracting over 1.7 million live event attendees each year with its multi-tiered event structure which includes the prestigious Built Ford Tough Series, the Copenhagen Bull Riding Challenger Tour, the Enterprise Rent-A-Car Tour, and the Discovery Tour, designed specifically for entry level contestants. The PBR is headquartered in Pueblo, Colo., with additional offices in Australia, Brazil, Canada, and Mexico. The PBR prides itself in its 1,000 plus stock contractor relationships and over 1,200 PBR bull riders competing in more than 300 PBR sanctioned competitions in five countries.