SACRAMENTO, Calif. – The world’s premiere bull riding organization, the Professional Bull Riders (PBR), will once again bring the greatest bull riders and top bulls in the world to the Sleep Train Arena in Sacramento on Jan. 30-31, for the Sacramento Invitational, part of the PBR’s Built Ford Tough Series.
The competition will begin at 8 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 30, and at 6:50 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 31. Tickets start at $15 and can be purchased at the Sleep Train Arena box office, www.Ticketmaster.com, and via phone at (800) 745-3000. For more information visit www.pbr.com.
For the 11th consecutive year, and 12th year overall, fans will experience non-stop action filled with electrifying 8-second rides and nerve-racking wrecks as they watch 150-pound cowboys risk it all against their opponents who are more than 10 times their size, weighing in at roughly 2,000 pounds.
Last year, California fans watched as Fabiano Vieira went 3-for-3 against his bovine opponents to win his second of three events for the season. In 2015, Vieira will be back in River City, along with three-time defending PBR World Champion Silvano Alves (2011, 2012, 2014), 2014 Rookie of the Year J.W. Harris as well as fan favorites Ryan Dirteater and L.J. Jenkins.
Four other former PBR World Champions are also scheduled to ride in Sacramento, including 2013 World Champion J.B. Mauney, Renato Nunes, (2010), Guilherme Marchi (2008) and Mike Lee (2004).
All Top 35 bull riders will ride one bull each in Rounds 1 and 2 on Friday and Saturday. After Round 2 on Saturday, the riders’ individual two-round scores will be totaled and the Top 15 riders on two bulls will advance to the Built Ford Tough Championship Round for one more ride and a chance at the $30,000 event title.
Savage Moves (D&H Cattle Co.) will make his BFTS debut in Round 1 on Friday night, taking on Vieira, the defending Sacramento Invitational event winner.
Last week’s Express Employment Professionals Invitational event winner Matt Triplett will go up against Still Doing Time (Dakota Rodeo/Dakota Cattle Co.), a bull he was tossed from in 6.48 seconds last year at the Tulsa, Oklahoma, event.
Bryan Titman will join the BFTS this weekend after winning the Laredo, Texas, BlueDEF Velocity Tour event. Titman will face Cash Ya Out (C’N Stars Bull Co./Cymbaluk), who has been ridden one of the three times he has appeared on the BFTS tour, by Eduardo Aparecido in Allentown, Pennsylvania, for 87.50 points last season.
CBS Sports Network will broadcast Round 2 of the Sacramento Invitational and the Built Ford Tough Championship Round at 10 p.m. ET on Saturday. Fans can also catch the action on PBR LIVE via CarbonTV.com at 11 p.m. ET on Friday and at 9:50 p.m. ET on Saturday. PBR LIVE is now available at no charge to all fans and media.
Sacramento is stop No. 5 of 27 on the 2015 BFTS. The season will conclude at the PBR Built Ford Tough World Finals in Las Vegas on Oct. 21-25 when the 2015 PBR World Champion, the bull rider who earns the most points during the 2015 season, will be crowned and receive the coveted World Championship belt buckle and a $1 million bonus.
The BFTS is televised every week on CBS, CBS Sports Network and networks around the world. 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.
© 2015 PBR Inc. All rights reserved.