Spur'N Conversations

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

PUEBLO, Colo. (August 19, 2008) - The Professional Bull Riders, Inc. (PBR) is proud to announce Barretos, SP, Brazil as the location of the 2009 PBR World Cup. PBR has worked out an agreement with Os Independentes Club, the promoter of Barretos International Rodeo, to host the World Cup in conjunction with the internationally acclaimed event. 

“The World Cup in Brazil will showcase the sport of professional bull riding as no other country has ever done,” Randy Bernard, CEO of the Professional Bull Riders, stated. “It will be the largest attended event in the history of the PBR, and I am very confident each country’s teams will rise to the occasion.”

The Barretos International Rodeo is the largest bull riding event in all of Brazil, drawing over 80,000 attendees per night in over 10 days. In its 54th year, the 2009 Barretos International Rodeo will be held from August 20-30, 2009 with the World Cup being held on the last three days---August 28, 29, and 30. 

Five of the best PBR bull riders from Australia, Brazil, Canada, Mexico, and 2008 World Cup winner, the United States, will gather at Barretos’ Parque do Peao for the PBR’s premier international event. 2009 looks to be a showdown between Brazil and the United States as each has taken one World Cup event title home to their respective countries.

“As both Brazil and the U.S.A. have won one title, we will definitely be the two countries to watch for. We (Team Brazil) are very disappointed that we did not ride to our potential in Mexico, but we will be ready next year in front of our home country crowd,” three-time PBR World Champion and Captain of Team Brazil 2008 Adriano Moraes commented.

“We could definitely see it come down between the U.S. and Brazil next year. They are the biggest threat and will have home country advantage. They will be sure tough to beat, but every other country will be up for the challenge,” J.W. Hart, Captain of Team U.S.A. 2008, said.

For more information on the 2009 PBR World Cup, please contact Katharine Sherrer at 719.242.2800 or katharine@pbrnow.com.

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About the PBR:
More than 100 million viewers tune in each year to the PBR on FOX, NBC, VERSUS and on a host of foreign networks across the globe. With approximately 400 hours of prime time programming annually PBR ranks among the most prolific sports on air, in addition to attracting over one and one half million live event attendees each year with its multi-tiered event structure which includes the marquee Built Ford Tough Series presented by Wrangler, 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., and has over 1,200 PBR bull riders compete in more than 300 PBR sanctioned competitions in the United States, Australia, Brazil, Canada, and Mexico.

CHIHUAHUA, Mexico (August 17, 2008) - The crowd of the Manuel Bernardo Aguirre Gymnasium was treated to an exceptional afternoon of bull riding as the Professional Bull Riders’ premier international event, the 2008 PBR World Cup, concluded.  In the end, Team USA left Chihuahua, Mexico victorious with a total of 878 points over four rounds and $100,000 in prize money on August 16-17, 2008. 

Team USA went into the 2008 World Cup with an extremely strong team.  Three of the five members are in the top 10 of the 2008 PBR World Standings---Kody Lostroh (Longmont, Colo.), J.B. Mauney (Mooresville, N.C.), and L.J. Jenkins (Texico, N.M.); the fourth member was two-time and reigning PBR World Champion Justin McBride (Elk City, Okla.); and rounding out the team was PBR fan favorites Sean Willingham (Summerville, Ga.) and Team USA alternate Luke Snyder (Raymore, Mo.).  They took second place after the first two rounds on Saturday evening and then dominated Sunday afternoon’s two rounds, finishing the weekend almost 100 points ahead of Team Canada who finished in second place overall.

“With the Olympics going on and everything going on in the world like it is, we got a chance to compete for our country.  Going into it, Brazil looked to be our biggest challenge.  We started out slow, but in the end, we put our chins down and hands closed,” JW Hart, Team USA’s captain, stated.

Team Canada, once again, was the runner-up for a second year in a row as they finished the weekend with 773.25 total points, although they had a strong start on Saturday, finishing as the number one team after the first two rounds. Last year’s winner Team Brazil, captained by retiring PBR legend, Adriano Moraes (Cachoeira Paulista, SP, Brazil), ended the weekend in third place with 773 points.  Rounding out fourth and fifth place was home country Team Mexico with 497.25 points and Team Australia with 262.5 points.

A special announcement was also made during Sunday’s performance to announce the home of the 2009 PBR World Cup.  Barretos, Brazil will host the premier international event on August 28-30.  Tune in next August to find out who will take the home the 2009 World Cup title and bragging rights for a year!!

OVERALL EVENT RESULTS:

SATURDAY, AUGUST 16, 2008:

Round One Scores: 
1) Team Canada, 256.25 points; 2) Team USA, 86.25 points; 3) Team Brazil, 84 points

Round Two Scores: 
1) Team USA, 267.25 points; 2) Team Brazil, 256.25 points; 3) Team Canada, 170.25 points; 4) Team Mexico, 159.25 points; 5) Team Australia, 88.25 points.

Standings after the First Night:
1) Team Canada, 426.5 points; 2) Team USA, 353.5 points; 3) Team Brazil, 340.25 points; 4) Team Mexico, 244.25 points; 5) Team Australia, 88.25 points.

SUNDAY, AUGUST 17, 2008

Round Three Scores:
1) Team USA, 258.75 points; 2) Team Brazil, 173 points; 3) Team Canada, 170.75 points; 4) Team Australia, 89 points; 5) Team Mexico, 88.75 points.

Round Four Scores:
1) Team USA, 263.75 points; 2) Team Brazil, 259.75 points; 3) Team Canada, 176 points; 4/5) Team Australia, 85.5 points; 4/5 Team Mexico, 85.25 points.

FINAL EVENT RESULTS:
1) Team USA, 878 points – $100,000; 2) Team Canada, 773.25 points; 3) Team Brazil, 773 points; 4) Team Mexico, 497.25 points; 5) Team Australia, 262.5 points.

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About the PBR:

More than 100 million viewers tune in each year to the PBR on FOX, NBC, VERSUS and on a host of foreign networks across the globe. With approximately 400 hours of prime time programming annually PBR ranks among the most prolific sports on air, in addition to attracting over one and one half million live event attendees each year with its multi-tiered event structure which includes the marquee Built Ford Tough Series presented by Wrangler, 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., and has over 1,200 PBR bull riders compete in more than 300 PBR sanctioned competitions in the United States, Australia, Brazil, Canada, and Mexico.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

PUEBLO, Colo. (June 26, 2008) - The Professional Bull Riders, Inc. will debut the 2008 PBR Team Shootout, a new two-man team competition featuring the greatest bull riders in the world. The five-event original series will occur at select bull riding events across the country and will be shown exclusively on ESPN2. The series marks the PBR’s first bull riding broadcasts on the ESPN family of networks.

The new format will showcase the top 20 bull riders in the elite Built Ford Tough Series (BFTS) presented by Wrangler World Standings and a teammate of their choice from all eligible PBR card holders. Each team member will ride two bulls at each nationally televised event, with the highest score on four bulls determining the winning team. In these winner-take-all events, each team will compete to take home individual event purses and all teams will be competing for points to qualify for the 2008 PBR Team Shootout final event.

Each team will compete at two PBR events from those listed below (ten teams at each event), with the top ten teams from the first four events competing at the 2008 PBR Team Shootout Finals in Pueblo, CO, which will be aired Sunday, September 14, 2008 at 3 p.m. ET. The team that wins the season title will take home the entire championship purse.

"The PBR is proud to work with ESPN to showcase the "Toughest Sport on Dirt" to a new audience of dedicated sports fans," stated Randy Bernard, PBR CEO. "The events we've selected have a strong fan base that is knowledgeable about the PBR, and we are confident they will enjoy this new competition format."

PBR Team Shootout Telecast Schedule:

The top twenty bull riders in BFTS World Standings as of June 23rd, 2008 will be team captains. A random drawing will be held on Tuesday, July 1, 2008 at 9 p.m. ET to determine the order in which riders will draft their teammates and the teammate draft selection will be held the following Tuesday, July 8th at 9pm ET. Both will be broadcast live on PBR’s free online webcast, PBR Primetime, by logging onto www.pbrnow.com. 

For more information about ticket information or the TV schedule, please go to www.pbrnow.com.

About ESPN:

ESPN, Inc., The Worldwide Leader in Sports, is the leading multinational, multimedia sports entertainment company featuring the broadest portfolio of multimedia sports assets with over 50 business entities. Sports media assets include ESPN on ABC, six domestic cable television networks (ESPN, launched in 1979; ESPN2; ESPN Classic; ESPNEWS; ESPN Deportes; ESPNU), ESPN HD, ESPN2 HD and ESPNEWS HD (high-definition simulcast services of ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPNEWS, respectively), ESPN Regional Television, ESPN International (34 international networks and syndication), ESPN Radio, ESPN.com, ESPN The Magazine, ESPN Enterprises, ESPN PPV, ESPN Zones (sports-themed restaurants), and other growing new businesses including ESPN360.com (Broadband), ESPN Mobile Properties (wireless), ESPN On Demand and ESPN Interactive. Based in Bristol, Ct., ESPN is 80 percent owned by ABC, Inc., which is an indirect subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company. The Hearst Corporation holds a 20 percent interest in ESPN. 

About PBR:

More than 100 million viewers tune in each year to the PBR on FOX, NBC, VERSUS and on a host of foreign networks across the globe. With approximately 400 hours of prime time programming annually PBR ranks among the most prolific sports on air, in addition to attracting over one and one half million live event attendees each year with its multi-tiered event structure which includes the marquee Built Ford Tough Series presented by Wrangler, the Copenhagen Bull Riding Challenger Tour, the Enterprise Rent-A-Car Tour, and the Discovery Tour, designed specifically for entry level contestants. The PBR's governing board of directors is comprised of renowned bull riders who have developed the event into a stand alone sport which is experiencing unprecedented growth in global popularity. The PBR is headquartered in Pueblo, Colo., and has over 1,200 PBR bull riders compete in more than 300 PBR sanctioned competitions in the United States, Australia, Brazil, Canada, and Mexico.

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