Bring On the Bulls
By Sean Gregory
Ride a bull for a living, and you can be the richest rag doll on earth. All you have to do is last eight excruciating seconds on an agitated 1,800-lb. animal that would like nothing more than to smash you against the sideboards of the arena, fling you off its back and gore you with its horns. On the Professional Bull Riders (PBR) tour, concussions and broken bones are as common as Wranglers and brass-buckled belts. "Most bull riders are what you call gristleheads," says Mike Lee, 23, who has won $2 million in five years of riding. "If you're intelligent, you wouldn't do it." Win the PBR World Championship, though, and the payoff is sweet: a $1 million check that can go a long way toward easing the saddle sores (or worse) that you'll have the next day. Or week.
Bull riding has always been about macho cowboy culture. Now it has something else going for it: a burgeoning TV audience. On cable channel oln, bull riding is among the highest-rated shows, handily beating broadcasts of NHL hockey games. An nbc broadcast of the PBR finals last year drew more viewers than the average audience for the Stanley Cup finals. And now Fox is on board. After Sunday football games this fall, the network plans to show two PBR events, including a broadcast from the finals in Las Vegas on Oct. 29. "This is a pivotal moment for our sport," says PBR ceo Randy Bernard. "It's our chance to take it to another level."
The PBR began in 1992, when a group of 20 riders broke away from the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association and formed their own tour (rodeo also includes events like steer wrestling). Today it's a $46 million business, and revenue has grown 150% over the past five years. From 2003 to '05, the tour's adult fan base soared 48%, to 18 million, far outpacing the growth of nascar or any other major sport, according to Scarborough Research. Sponsorship revenue has nearly tripled since 2000, to $22.5 million. Advertisers like Yamaha seem to be betting that bull riding will hit the big time. They like the demographics of the fans: the average household income is a healthy $66,000, and 40% are women.
If the sport does take off, it will be thanks in part to dumb luck. nbc decided in 2002 to stop paying huge fees for sports like NBA basketball and started stacking its lineup with niche events--bull riding, arena football, Champ Car racing. The PBR paid the network for airtime, guaranteeing that nbc wouldn't lose money if no one tuned in. As it turned out, audiences liked watching corn-fed young dudes cling to enraged animals for dear life. "People want to see a big bad som'bitch hoof the s___ out of somebody," says Jerry Nelson, a top bull owner. "They want to see a little blood and guts." They're usually not disappointed: 1 in 15 rides results in an injury to the rider. In 2000, one rider died in the ring.
Perhaps the smartest thing the tour did was to recognize that the bulls, not the riders, are the stars. Fans show up to see the fiercest bovine in the land. The tour promotes the bulls with merchandise like T shirts, dolls and bobbleheads, which sell better than any rider-themed goods. (The first bull to sign an autograph will make a killing.) "The bulls should be more famous than us," says two-time champ Adriano Moraes. "They're better athletes." They also have better names, which reflect their personalities. Bodacious, a bull who died in 2000, was the Babe Ruth of bull riding, the sultan of cowboy swat. A bull named Ugly wasn't beauty-contest material, but in the arena he was a champ. This summer, one bull literally tore the pants off a handler before an event. The animal's nom de guerre: Hit and Run.
As terrifying as it can be to climb aboard an irate bull, riders want the beasts plenty riled up. The bull's performance counts for half the rider's score--out of a possible 100 points--and the harder it bucks the better. Indeed, what separates a star bull from the herd is his ability to get bucky on demand. Each year the bulls are shuttled to dozens of events from California to Connecticut, and one never knows how they will emerge from the ride. "Everywhere we go, the hay and the grain might taste a little different," says Cody Lambert, the PBR's livestock director. "The good ones learn to relax through all of this and not let it stress them out." Dehydration is a risk, and can leave a bull lethargic for an event. And no one wants a sleepy bull.
Riders, for their part, generally fall into two camps: Bible thumpers and hard-living cowboys. Riders know that each contest could be their last, a realization that drives some to church, others to drink. The religious types, says veteran rider Chris Shivers, "want to be in the right spot when it's time to go." This fall, they may want to add one more thing to their prayers: that football fans stay tuned to their eight seconds of glory.
STAR RIDES
Bull of the Year hopefuls --and a rider they would like to stomp [This article contains a table. Please see hardcopy of magazine.] NAME SCENE OF THE CRASH BIG BUCKS PANDORA'S BOX WALK THIS WAY JUST A DREAM ADRIANO MORAES WEIGHT 1,300 lbs. 1,400 lbs. 1,550 lbs. 1,800 lbs. 1,600 lbs. 185 lbs. AGE 5 5 7 7 6 36 BUCK-OFF %* 92% 100% 96% 100% 82% 42% INJURIES 0 0 0 0 0 18 (two broken legs) EARNINGS $3,100 $28,000 $26,000 $7,000 $9,000 $2 million *The percentage of rides in which the bull tosses the rider before 8 sec. For Moraes, it's the percentage of rides in which he has been bucked. One of the smallest on the tour, he may not intimidate. But riders can't solve his bucking patterns. Owner Jerry Nelson bought the top bull of '05 for $15,000. He just sold a 50% stake for $500,000. Gets stronger and grumpier with age. Talk to him in the pen, and he could throw a rider off. Fairly friendly when not competing. He kicks so high it often looks as if he will topple over. A sweetie at times; in the pit he is "the baddest bastard in the world," his owner says. Compares riding to ballet, since both require finesse. He's in position for a third world title.
With reporting by Theo Emery/ Greensboro, N.C.