Las Vegas Weekly

November 3, 2008 · 5:36 PM

Facing retirement, McBride aims for third win at PBR world championships

By Robin Leach

Justin McBride in action.

Photo: PBR

Today is the fourth day of competition for 40 of the world’s top bull riders in their world championship finals at the Thomas & Mack center. We’ve got the first look at the action as promised.

Former UNLV student-turned-cowboy Justin McBride is hoping for a third win and another $1 million bonus payday, but he’s facing tough competition from 26-year-old Guilherme Marchi of Brazil, who is leading with five season victories this year, followed closely by rider Valdiron de Oliveira. Both Justin and Guilherme will retire after the finals here in Vegas. The rough and tough sport on dirt resumed at 6 p.m. today.

Professional Bull Riders, or PBR, is an international, professional bull riding organization based in Pueblo, Colo., and events are televised on Versus, Fox and NBC. More than 800 cowboys from the U.S., Canada, Brazil, Australia and Mexico hold PBR memberships. The organization began in 1992 through the efforts of 20 professional bull riders, who each contributed $1,000.

Since that time, the organization has grown to include four tours, which collectively stage more than 100 events a year. Prize money has exploded from $250,000 in 1994 to more than $10 million. The premier tour now under way in Vegas, the Built Ford Tough Series, includes 31 events across the country every year. Pyrotechnics, pulsating music and special effects open each event, and the event features the top 45 riders in the world at the time.

Riders attempt to stay on a bucking bull for eight seconds, and rides are judged based on the rider’s and the bull’s performance. At the end of each event, the top 15 riders compete in the “short go,” or short round; the rider with the highest point total from the entire event is crowned the winner. Total viewership and the TV audience have increased each year, with some 20 million fans expected to tune in this week to the Vegas finals.

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