Bankers Life Fieldhouse News

  • PBR brings world’s best riders, bulls back to Indianapolis

    01/19/2012

    INDIANAPOLIS – The Professional Bull Riders announced that the Built Ford Tough Series, featuring the Top 35 bull riders in the world and the best bulls, will return to Bankers Life Fieldhouse on April 14-15 for the Built Ford Tough Invitational presented by Super Duty.

    Sat, April 14 at 8pm
    Sun, April 15 at 2pm 

    Tickets begin at $12 and go on sale Jan. 23 at the Bankers Life Fieldhouse Box Office and all Ticketmaster outlets, online at BankersLifeFieldhouse.com and Ticketmaster.com, or by phone at (800) 745-3000. Bull riding begins at 8 p.m. on Saturday, April 14, and at 2 p.m. on Sunday, April 15.

    The BFTS features the best, highest-paid bull riders on the planet, including current PBR World Champion Silvano Alves, who reached $1 million faster than any rider in history, earning $1.8 million in his first 18 months.

    Fans will witness thrilling 8-second rides and jaw-dropping wrecks throughout the adrenaline-soaked performance as the PBR’s insanely brave cowboys risk it all against monstrous animal athletes that can weigh as much as 2,000 pounds.

    Each of the 35 riders will ride in Round 1 on Saturday and in Round 2 on Sunday. Following Round 2 on Sunday, the riders with the 10 highest cumulative scores will advance to the Built Ford Tough Championship Round where they will compete with one more bull. The overall event winner will be the rider with the highest combined score from all three rounds.

    Following Round 1 on Saturday, there will be a special round with the Top 15 riders in the world competing against the 15 highest-ranked bulls at the event. The 15 bulls will be randomly drawn the week before the event, and assigned a position from 1-15. The Top 15 riders will be assigned a bull according to their standings at the conclusion of the preceding event.  Points earned in the special event will not count toward the results of the event.

    Indianapolis will be the 14th stop on the BFTS, which opened the 2012 season on Jan. 6-8 with capacity crowds at Madison Square Garden in New York. The BFTS will make 28 stops in 23 states before the Built Ford Tough World Finals in Las Vegas on Oct. 24-28, 2012. The World Finals are where the PBR World Champion will be crowned and awarded the coveted Championship Buckle and a $1 million bonus. The richest bull riding event in the world, the World Finals has a total purse of more than $2 million.

    The BFTS is televised every week on CBS, CBS Sports Network, NBC, NBC Sports Network, and YouTube. BFTS telecasts are produced for the PBR under a multi-year agreement with David Neal Productions, a Los Angeles-based production company led by 34-time Emmy® Award winner and Peabody Award winner David Neal, who serves as executive producer.  

    About the Professional Bull Riders, Inc. (PBR)
    The PBR is the world’s premier bull riding organization. This year marks the 20th anniversary of the founding of the PBR. In just two decades, the dream of 20 bull riders has become a global sports phenomenon that is televised worldwide. More than 100 million viewers annually watch primetime PBR programming on networks around the world including CBS, CBS Sports Network, NBC, NBC Sports Network, and YouTube. The PBR has awarded over $100 million in prize money and 24 riders have earned over $1 million, including Justin McBride with $5.5 million -- the most of any western sports athlete in history. Nearly two million fans attend 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/PBR.