ROGERS -- The Professional Bull Riders tour already comes to Springdale when the organization's Touring Pro Division event is held at Parsons Stadium each August. But PBR chairman and chief executive officer Jim Haworth said Monday that Northwest Arkansas could potentially host one the group's marquee tour events in the future.
Haworth was in Rogers on Monday meeting with various local business people at a time when the PBR continues its impressive growth. The PBR's main tour is the Built Ford Tough Series, and that tour includes the top 35 bull riders in the world. Haworth, a former Walmart executive, has been in charge of the PBR since 2011.
"We are celebrating our 21st year of operation," Haworth said. "We are operating in five countries, and we have paid out over $140 million. We just signed a multiyear deal with CBS. We are expanding into China, and we also are going to do New Zealand. I think we have come a long way in 21 years."
The Touring Pro Division event will be held Aug. 9 in Springdale at Parsons Stadium and is the Minor League of bull riding. The PBR Built Ford Tough Series will have an event next month in Tulsa, Okla., but Haworth said Northwest Arkansas is another potential stop.
Plans currently call for Parsons Stadium to be expanded to 18,000 seats.
"We do 140 of the Tour Pro events across the United States," Haworth said. "It allows those riders to win money and get points to get in that top 35. You may get that call to compete in the Built Ford Tough Series. We would love to look at doing a Built Ford Tough Series here. It just takes the right arena. When they get the construction done, that is something we can look at."
One of the unique aspects of bull riding is the riders only get paid if they win, and that makes the competition even more intense.
"Our guys don't make any money if they don't win," said Stephanie Spear, PBR director of sales and partnership activation. "There are no low scoring games. If they show up and don't ride for eight seconds, they go home with nothing. Our fans understand that, and they are much more likely to support that sponsor. They know our guys don't have those multimillion dollar contracts."
The PBR brought two bulls -- Kujo and Shanghai Heat -- to Monday's event at the Embassy Suites Hotel as the organization looks to build new corporate partnerships
"We are introducing the professional bull riding property to the Northwest Arkansas area, and to the supplier community specifically," Spear said. "We want to get with the supplier community and let them know what the big deal with the PBR is. Why it is growing? What is the appeal?"
And the PBR is growing. Events are held in 26 major markets in the United States every year, and the sport is currently expanding into China. The PBR already has a footprint in Brazil and Australia. Along with the CBS Sports contract, Forbes Magazine last year tabbed the sport as the fastest growing in the country.
"We just signed a new six-year deal with CBS, and we will be on live broadcast 14 times," Spear said. "We do Madison Square Garden. We just shipped 115 bulls from Australia to China, and they arrived a couple weeks ago. We are doing well in Brazil. Soccer is the number one sport in Brazil, but bull riding is No. 2."
Haworth said the growth possibilities in China are endless.
"We have a Chinese rider that has been training in Australia," Haworth said. "We realized that we have to develop a Chinese rider. He is from Outer Mongolia, and he was an acrobat horse rider that has actually done pretty well. The first five bulls he rode, he rode four out of five of them. We hope in the future we can come up with some great riders."
Sports on 07/29/2014