The Professional Bull Riders World Finals relocated to AT&T Stadium this year, and the event begins Thursday evening. PBR World Finals had been held in Las Vegas since 1994, but the event had to be moved because of COVID-19 restrictions in Nevada.
In Arlington, attendance for each night of the event will be capped at 18,000. Tickets were also sold in "pods," with empty seats between groups of fans. Fans will also be required to wear masks.
"That stadium's so huge, you walk in there, and you're going to get the butterfly feeling going in your stomach," says Brock Radford, a bull rider from De Winton, Alberta, Canada. "There could be no fans in that stadium, and you're still going to be pumped up to ride in the 'House that Jerry Built.' Guys get a little swagger when they're walking into AT&T Stadium, for sure. Whatever it takes to get that mental edge."
Radford is in his second appearance at the PBR World Finals, last appearing in 2018. He has been with PBR since 2013.
"Especially in times like this, for the PBR to give us the opportunity to do what we love and guys can make a living at it, it's awesome," he says.
Radford says he has worked to adjust to changes forced by the pandemic, with some events canceled or others held without fans.
"There's been a lot of downtime for me," he says. "There's been a lot of time between events, and there's that uncertainty. For me, up in Canada, we didn't really know when the next event would be."
PBR and AT&T Stadium are using digital tickets; concessions stands, souvenir stands and parking will be cashless.
The PBR World Finals include 39 riders, including nine from Texas. Those who have at least one qualifying ride Thursday through Saturday advance to the championship round Sunday, where the winner will take $300,000. The rider with the most season points will win $1 million and the PBR World Championship belt buckle.
Tickets were still available for each day Thursday afternoon, starting at $28.
The National Finals Rodeo has also planned to move from Nevada to Arlington, taking place at Globe Life Field December 3-12.
