Fort Worth Unleash The Beast Event Elevated to Iron Cowboy PBR Major Awarding Winner $75,000
By: Kacie Albert
FORT WORTH, Tex. – Ahead of the fan-attended PBR (Professional Bull Riders) Unleash The Beast event in Fort Worth, Texas, Aug. 28-29, the league has elevated the Lone Star State tour stop to a PBR Major, awarding both increased prize money and world points. The PBR Tractor Supply Co. Iron Cowboy, presented by Ariat, at Dickies Arena will now feature a unique progress-elimination format, awarding the winner a minimum of $75,000 and 150 world points as the feverish race for the 2021 PBR World Championship approaches the final weeks of the season.
For two nights only, the world’s Top 40 riders – including 11 expected from Texas – will go head-to-head against the rankest bucking bulls on the planet as they compete through five rounds of bone-crushing competition, culminating with the event’s Top 2 riders squaring off in a sudden-death, winner-take-all final round.
With the world’s Top 5 currently within 799.5 points of one another, the PBR Major will significantly impact the world title race, with just seven events remaining after the Fort Worth tour stop prior to the 2021 PBR World Finals Nov. 3-7 in Las Vegas.
The PBR Tractor Supply Co. Iron Cowboy, presented by Ariat, will be the second, and final, PBR Major of the 2021 season. The first PBR Major of the season, the PBR Last Cowboy Standing, was held in late July in tandem with the iconic Cheyenne Frontier Days in Wyoming.
While the greater Dallas-Fort Worth area has not hosted a PBR Major in three years, the region is no stranger to world-class caliber bull riding.
In 2015, the league hosted the first-ever PBR Major in nearby Arlington, with current world No. 5 Joao Ricardo Vieira (Itatinga, Brazil) crowned the Iron Cowboy. The PBR Major returned to Arlington the subsequent three seasons, with Shane Proctor (Coulee, Washington) topping the field in 2016, Eduardo Aparecido (Gouvelandia, Brazil) dominating in 2017, and Vieira back atop the Can-Am Cage in 2018.
In 2019, the PBR Global Cup, akin to the “Olympics of bull riding,” debuted in the Lone Star State at AT&T Stadium, with Team Brazil making history as the first nation to win the team event in back-to-back iterations. The Global Cup returned to Arlington in 2020 with Team USA Eagles becoming the first nation to defend home soil.
As the 2020 season unfurled in unprecedented fashion, Dickies Arena in Fort Worth welcomed the league for the first time in history, holding the 18th regular-season event of the year in late August, before the World Finals relocated to Arlington in November, marking the first time the sport’s most prestigious event was held outside of Las Vegas.
Thus far in 2021, Fort Worth has welcomed the league’s premier series once, with the iconic Cowtown Coliseum as the setting for the Unleash The Beast in late February for the first time since 1994.
Currently atop the world standings, a season-best 470.5 points in front of No. 2 Kaique Pacheco (Itatiba, Brazil), reigning PBR World Champion Jose Vitor Leme (Ribas do Rio Pardo, Brazil) will travel to the PBR Iron Cowboy Major amidst a hot streak at the Dallas-Fort Worth area events.
At the first iteration of the PBR Global Cup USA in 2019, Leme piloted Team Brazil to victory, notably recording the first-ever 90-point ride at the team tournament, while in 2020, he was the international tournament’s top-performing individual rider.
When the Unleash The Beast bucked into Fort Worth in 2020, Leme went a near-perfect 2-for-3 to clinch his league-leading sixth premier series victory of the year. Less than three months later, Leme captured his career-first PBR World Championship at the first-ever PBR World Finals held in Arlington.
Leme’s success in the Dallas-Fort Worth area continued to mount in 2021. Part of Leme’s monumental season thus far, which has been highlighted by four event victories, included his first Unleash The Beast win of the season in late February when the league returned to Cowtown Coliseum.
His golden finish included a rematch with Woopaa (Barker Bulls/Hookin’ W Ranch), the very bull he clinched the 2020 PBR World Championship aboard. Again teaming for a monstrous score, Leme covered the striking bull for 94.75 points in the championship round to cement the event victory inside the iconic western sports venue despite competing with broken ribs.
In the months since Leme’s victory in Fort Worth, he has been seemingly unstoppable.
In early August, Leme made sports history in Tulsa, Oklahoma, when he shattered the league’s high-marked ride record, teaming with Woopaa for an awe-inspiring 97.75-point score. With the score, Leme tied both 1999 PBR World Champion Cody Hart (Gainesville, Texas) for most 90-point rides in a season (16), as well as Vieira and Pacheco for most 15/15 Bucking Battles won by one rider (6).
The monstrous ride was logged just days after Leme was crowned the Last Cowboy Standing, winning the league’s first PBR Major of the season after going a perfect 5-for-5.
After all competing riders attempt one bull each on Saturday, August 28, at the PBR Iron Cowboy, the Top 25 will advance to compete in Round 2 getting underway on Sunday, August 29.
Following Round 2, the Top 8 in the aggregate will advance to Round 3, followed by the Top 4 moving on to Round 4. All riders who cover their bull in Round 4 will automatically advance to Round 5. If only one rider reaches the 8-second whistle, one rider will be drawn back based on aggregate. Round 5 will feature a sudden-death style of competition. The overall winner will be the rider with the highest score in the final round.
The Iron Cowboy will earn a minimum of $75,000 and 150 points toward the world standings. The rider who records the highest marked ride will also receive a $20,000 bonus.
In addition to Leme, Pacheco, Vieira and Aparecido, who call Decatur home, the draw for the Fort Worth Major is also anticipated to be led by 2016 PBR World Champion, and new Dallas resident, Cooper Davis (Jasper, Texas). Also anticipated to compete are fellow Texans Cody Teel (College Station, Texas), Chase Dougherty (Stephenville, Texas), Boudreaux Campbell (Crockett, Texas), Taylor Toves (Stephenville, Texas), Jesse Petri (Palestine, Texas), Ezekiel Mitchell (Rockdale, Texas) and Mason Taylor (Maypearl, Texas).
Tickets for the two-day event are on sale now and start at $16.50, taxes and fees not included. They can be purchased at the Dickies Arena Box Office, online at Ticketmaster.com and PBR.com, or by calling PBR customer service at 1-800-732-1727.
PBR Elite Seats are available for avid fans who want an exclusive VIP experience while enjoying the world’s top bull riding circuit. These tickets offer premium seats, a question and answer presentation with some of the top bull riders and stock contractors in the world, a behind-the-scenes look at the event from the back of the bucking chutes, and souvenir credential and lanyard.
For an enhanced PBR experience, fans can now purchase add-on PBR Premium Experiences which will include the Elite Experience on both Saturday, August 28 and Sunday, August 29, and Bull Housing Tour on Saturday, August 28 in Fort Worth.
The Elite Experience, available for $75, will include a Q&A session with a select group of the league’s top riders, bullfighters and stock contractors, exclusive merchandise item, arena concession voucher and commemorative lanyard.
The Bull Housing Tour, available for $60, will get experience-purchasers up-close-and-personal with the league’s top animal athletes and include a commemorative lanyard and Bulls of the PBR book.
Fans will also have the opportunity to purchase a complete travel package for $1,300, including a two-day hotel stay, two event tickets, daily food and beverage voucher, behind-the-scenes tour, and more.
For more information on PBR Premium Experiences and to purchase the Elite Experience, Bull Housing Tour and travel package for the PBR Tractor Supply Co. Iron Cowboy, presented by Ariat, in Fort Worth visit https://pbr.com/tickets/premium-experiences/.
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