Sports

Extreme bull-riding event joins rodeo's lineup

The Tucson Rodeo has added an extreme bull-riding competition and a country music concert to its 2004 schedule in an attempt to attract younger fans and to break its attendance record. Tucson Pro Rodeo Bull Riding, part of the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association Xtreme Bulls tour, will be held Feb. 21. It will be followed by a concert by the Honky Tonk Tailgate Party. La Fiesta de los Vaqueros is scheduled for Feb. 21-29 at the Tucson Rodeo Grounds. The extreme bull-riding competition was sanctioned by the PRCA for the first time this year, with 10 rodeos capitalizing on the sport's most-popular event. "Bull riding always has been the rodeo's most-popular event," rodeo general manager Gary Williams said. "We were hoping to be part of the 10-city extreme bull-riding tour in 2003, but it was too late for us to do an adequate marketing job in Tucson." The PRCA's extreme bull-riding tour was launched to counter the popularity of the rival Professional Bull Riders series. The PBR has expanded from $1 million in revenue in 1995 to $20 million last year. "We expect the top PRCA bull riders to compete, but not riders from the PBR," Williams said. "We'll start with 45 competitors, with 15 advancing to the finals." The PBR allows its top 10 finishers to buy stock in the tour. It has kept the PBR's best riders from jumping to the PRCA. If a competitor wants to ride in a PRCA event, he must sell his stake in the PBR. "They have to ask themselves if they're sports or entertainment." PBR CEO Randy Bernard told the Sports Business Journal. "I'd never look at the rodeo as competition. It's family entertainment." Williams said the extreme competition will not replace the traditional bull riding during the rodeo. The bull-riding preliminaries and finals are the biggest attractions at the rodeo. "The extreme bull riding is like a stand-alone event, except that we're putting it under the Tucson Rodeo umbrella," he said. Tucson has hosted separate bull-riding events for the last three years, usually in the summer. Two were at the Tucson Rodeo Grounds, the other at Tucson Convention Center. They were not part of La Fiesta de los Vaqueros. "They did fine on their own," Williams said, "and we did what we could to support them. But with our full support, we think this can turn into a major event for the Tucson Rodeo." The PRCA started referring to bull riding as the original extreme sport this year in a push to lure younger fans. "The 18-to-34 demographic is very important in attracting advertisers and TV coverage," Williams said. "We have to go after the nontraditional rodeo fan if we're going to stay strong in the future." Williams said the Tucson Rodeo is not hurting for customers. It drew more than 44,000 in 2003, including sellout crowds of 11,000 for the final two performances. But he said the bull-riding competition should help the rodeo break its attendance record of 49,000. That was set in 1979, he said. "Our competition is not spring training, the PGA Tour golf tournament or the UA's sports programs," Williams said. "I don't think we're competing with them for fans. "We competing with Blockbuster Video and cable TV," he said. "The younger crowd is playing video games, watching videos and extreme sports on TV." In 2002, nearly 700 PRCA-sanctioned events attracted 23 million people. Still, based on fan surveys and research, Williams said it is imperative to reach a younger crowd. "We don't want to wake up in 10 to 15 years only to realize that our fan base has all died off."