tough enough?

Professional Bull Riders take on Reno and Las Vegas in the next two months.

By NEVADA MAGAZINE | September/October 2009

Photo: PR

The world’s best bull riders converge on Las Vegas’ Thomas & Mack Center for two weekends of grueling competition, October 30-November 1 and November 5-8. They will attempt to ride the most ferocious bucking bulls on the planet in an effort to win the most coveted prize in their sport: a Professional Bull Riders World Championship.

The PBR World Finals is the culmination of a yearlong journey for the riders of the Built Ford Tough Series. The top 40 rodeo athletes in the world meet in a final man-against-beast battle to determine who is tough enough to wear the coveted World Championship Buckle. The prize money adds up to nearly $3 million.

An estimated 116,000 rodeo fans will travel from all over the world to join the excitement. Mandalay Bay, the official hotel of the PBR World Finals, will be the center of the action. The FanZone & Marketplace features shopping opportunities ranging from Western-style vendors, household goods, and jewelry to trailers and PBR merchandise.

There are interactive exhibits such as Wrangler University with Mutton Bustin’ and Junior Bull Riding, plus the Enterprise Main Stage with the Flint Rasmussen Show and other live entertainment. Other booths include Ford, Jack Daniel’s, Priefert, and the United States Air Force. The World Finals are broadcast live each night on VERSUS and NBC.

A month earlier, the PBR invades Reno’s Lawlor Events Center for the Reno Invitational, stop number 26 on the PBR’s elite Built Ford Tough Series. The Reno event, September 11-13, will feature the top 40 bull riders in the world and is the final regular-season stop on the 2009 Bull Team Challenge competition, in which 14 teams compete for a total purse of more than $500,000.