Bullish market on Strip

Thursday, Feb. 29, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.

If there is any question that professional bull riding has hit the big time, one need look no further than the corner of the Strip and Tropicana Avenue.

Not only is the Professional Bull Riders Bud Light Cup Series offering a record $1 million purse at its season finale Oct. 11-13 at the MGM, the hotel/casino's sports book is putting up futures odds on the 16-event series.

"This announcement we're making today goes beyond the dreams of most guys, like myself, who have ridden bulls for a living," defending PBR series champion Tuff Hedeman said Tuesday. "It has really just taken off."

Hedeman, a former Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association world champion, started the PBR four years ago as a bull riders alternative to the PRCA. This year's 16-event tour will offer prize money in excess of $2 million.

"The cowboys felt like they were not getting the opportunities they should (in the PRCA)," Hedeman said of the PBR series. "From a bull rider's standpoint, with the formation of the PBR, the sport of bull riding has never been greater and never had the opportunities that you have today."

In addition to the $2 million series purse, all 16 PBR events are televised nationally by The Nashville Network. According to Hedeman, the PBR series events are the highest-rated Sunday shows on TNN.

More important than the exposure, Hedeman said, are the financial benefits the PBR series is giving bull riders.

"The PBR is the most attractive thing if you truly ride bulls for a living," Hedeman said. "Look at last year: Jerome Davis was the PRCA World Champion and I think he earned right around $130,000 -- but he entered over 100 events to win that. I, on the other hand, won the PBR Championship and I won the Bud Light Cup Series and won close to $160,000 -- at 15 events.

"It's beyond exciting for me because now you're not talking about having to go to over 100 rodeos, you're not having to shell out all the expense money out of your own pocket. With all the television exposure, there is money for sponsorship. Now you're getting paid to go there and you have an opportunity to win 10 times the amount that you ever have."

This year, with the added $1 million for the Las Vegas finals, the top PBR cowboy will have the opportunity to win as much as $400,000 -- an amount unheard of in the sport just a few short years ago.

The 1996 Professional Bull Riders Bud Light Cup Series opened earlier this month with an event in Guthrie, Okla., and will resume next weekend in Fort Worth, Texas.

The three-day Las Vegas finals will feature four go-rounds. Following Sunday's final go-round, the top 15 scorers will ride one more time to determine the finals champion. Tickets, priced from $20 to $50, can be purchased at the MGM Grand box office or at any TicketMaster outlet.