PBR’s Built Ford Tough Series Returns to Oklahoma for Three Action-Packed Performances!!!

By Matthew Garbiso, PBR
Posted Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Tune-in to NBC and VERSUS this weekend for all of the non-stop action.

PUEBLO, Colo. (February 9, 2009) - The Professional Bull Riders, Inc. (PBR) whirlwind February schedule sends the world’s best bull riders to the Oklahoma City’s Ford Center for the Express Classic, stop #9 on the prestigious Built Ford Tough Series (BFTS). At 8 p.m. on Friday, February 13th, 6:50 p.m. on Saturday, February 14th and at 2:00 on Sunday, February 15th, the PBR will showcase the top 40 bull riders in the world in a world-class production as they compete for the coveted event title.

For as little as $10 and increasing to $30, $50, $70 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 US Army Box Office at Ford Center, online at www.ticketmaster.com, or by phone at 800 745 3000 (standard ticket fees may apply).

During three nights of heart-pounding, bone-crushing action, fans will see bull riders Team Express riders Mike White (De Kalb, Texas), Travis Briscoe (Edgewood, N.M.), and 2002 PBR World Champion Ednei Caminhas (P. Alves, SP, Brazil); Oklahoma bull riders Austin Meier (Kinta, Okla.), Ryan Dirteater (Hulbert, Okla.), Cord McCoy (Tupelo, Okla.), and Kolt Donaldson (Idabel, Okla.); 2008 PBR World Champion Guilherme Marchi (Leme, SP, Brazil); and current #1 bull rider in the world J.B. Mauney (Mooresville, N.C.) who will take on 2008 World Champion bull, Bones (Teague Bucking Bulls, LLC) during Friday night’s competition. Challenging these men will be the fiercest bulls in the world today.

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

On Saturday, fans will be treated to several activities around Oklahoma City including the TeamPBR Meet & Greet followed by the 2009 PBR Bull Draft. Each bull rider will be given the opportunity to select his bull for Saturday night’s competition based on his performance on Friday night. The rider who wins round one will select his bull first, while the rider with quickest buck-off time selecting last. Additionally, the 15 riders who qualify for the Built Ford Tough Championship Round on Sunday will select their bull during intermission. The TeamPBR Meet & Greet will take place at the Cox Convention Center from 9:00-10:30 a.m. and the draft will immediately follow at 11:00 a.m. The draft is free and open to the media and public.

On Saturday, February 14th, fans will be able to experience the first PBR Fan Zone of 2009 at Oklahoma City’s Cox Convention Center. The Fan Zone will open at 2:00 p.m. and will feature PBR rider autograph sessions as well as several PBR sponsor displays including Ford, Cooper Tires, U.S. Border Patrol, Troy-Bilt, and more. The TeamPBR booth will also be set up and fans will be able to find out about joining the fan club as well as find out about the new TeamPBR VIP Experience packages.

The Oklahoma City event will be one of the featured stops on the 2009 Bull Team Challenge Tour where teams are competing for their share of the $1.1 million total tour purse and the $250,000 prize for the top team of 2009. In stop number one of nine, the Bull Team Challenge will present $20,000 to the team whose total score is the highest for the weekend and $10,000 to the second-highest scoring team.

For more information and the official rules on the PBR’s new Bull Team Challenge, please visit http://www.pbrnow.com/competition/BullTeams.

The Express Classic will air on NBC on Saturday, February 14th at 3:30 p.m. CST. Then at 7 p.m. CST, VERSUS will air the second performance LIVE while the final round of competition will air on VERSUS at 7 p.m. on Sunday, February 15th. 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 Express Classic, please visit www.pbrnow.com or contact Matt Garbiso at 719 338 2974 or 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.