Bull riders and the animals are starting to arrive in North Texas for the PBR World Finals. Events will start Thursday, May 8 at Cowtown Coliseum in Fort Worth.
PBR World Finals: Unleash the Beast is returning to North Texas for the fifth year. Eliminations run from May 8 through May 11 at Cowtown Coliseum. The "Ride for Redemption" continues at Cowtown Coliseum May 14 and 15; the Championship takes place May 17 and 18 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington.
A lineup of 130 bulls participating in the event was announced this week. Among them is Playmate, which made his PBR debut last year. This will be his first time at the World Finals.
"I want the meanest, nastiest bull on Earth. Those are the ones I want to own," says Playmate's owner, Dana White. "For me, this is fun."
Since joining PBR, Playmate has bucked at 12 events. He has only been ridden once.
"I'm excited," White says. "This guy is super violent. Last week, the rider never even made it out of the chute. He knocked the guy off before they even made it out to buck."
White is also President of Ultimate Fighting Championship. He says he was first introduced to bull riding when he was making a series called, Lookin' for a Fight.
"I rode a PBR bull, one of the dumbest things I've ever done," he says. "But through that, I earned respect not only for the riders but for the bulls. I totally got into it and started buying bulls."
Also during the PBR World Finals will be Kid Rock's Rock N Rodeo. Kid Rock has said he became a fan of the sport after performing at rodeos and seeing the athleticism of both the cowboys and animals. He will also perform during the rodeo.
White says Kid Rock and moving the PBR World Finals to a venue like AT&T Stadium can introduce western sports to new fans. He says people can draw parallels between his current work with UFC and Professional Bull Riders.
"Much like the fight business, there's two sides to the story: There's the story about the bull, who he is and where he came from and then there's the story about the rider, who they are and where they came from," he says. "They're competing that night, and if it's done right, you build that interest. I want to see who's going to win this."
Tickets and the full schedule for the PBR World Finals are available at https://pbrworldfinals.com/.