When the Professional Bull Riders Challenger Series pulls into the Resch Center this weekend, it’s not all that different than a major rock tour coming to town.
There’s a whole caravan of semis, anywhere from four to 15, filled with a full concert sound system, lighting grids, LED boards, pyro … Hold on, pyro?
“We have all the different elements that Metallica has but we put it and package it with bull riding,” said Robert Simpson, senior vice president of PBR. “We have pyro. We will do a full pyro show up there.”
The sport’s brave cowboys, big ol’ bulls and the accompanying adrenaline rush when they cross paths are the main attraction at the sold-out event at 7 p.m. Sept. 13, but it’s also a full-blown entertainment production designed to keep the crowd into it from the minute that first bucking chute opens until the last man hits the dirt.
“Even when we’re not bucking bulls, we’re still entertaining the crowd,” Simpson said.
It’s only the second time PBR has ventured to Green Bay and the first for the Challenger Series in the city. The inaugural visit was in 2019 when PBR and the World Champions Rodeo Alliance were at the Resch Center for three days. The return visit is the only PBR event in Wisconsin this year.
If you already have your cowboys boots dusted off and ready to go, or you’re just wondering what all the excitement is about, Simpson offered some insight into what makes PBR such a fun Saturday night out.
What took so long for PBR to return to Green Bay?
It wasn’t for lack of trying, Simpson said. PBR does roughly 75 owned-and-operated events a year in the United States, in addition to Australia, Brazil and Canada, so scheduling means booking dates at least a year out. Finding a window where everything jives can be tricky. In Green Bay, that meant not only that the Resch Center had an open date to fit PBR’s touring itinerary, but there was another factor as well.
“There can’t be a Packers game that weekend, because we don’t want to compete,” Simpson said.
What’s the appeal of the PBR Challenger Series?
It’s all about the bull riding.
“That’s what fans come to see. They come to see that 150-pound cowboy getting on that 2,000-pound bull. The whole man vs. beast, David and Goliath, that’s what sells our product,” Simpson said.
“Uberfans,” as Simpson calls them, who follow the circuit on TV, know the bulls just like a football fan knows what number the inside linebacker wears, and they have their favorites.
“Everybody wants to cheer for the cowboy — a great ride, big points and hurrah — but then there’s also a big facet of our fans that are there watching the bulls, and when that bull just pummels a guy, they’re also cheering and saying, ‘Oh my God, did you see that? That bull is the baddest around.’”
Get 31 of the top bull riders in the world under one roof and things can get wild. While it might not be the same decibel level of 81,000 fans at Lambeau Field for a Green Bay Packers game, Simpson said the crowd excitement over a cowboy trying to stay on a bull for 8 seconds is right up there with a buzzer beater in a basketball game.
How does PBR get all those bulls to the Resch Center?
The short answer: They don’t. For all that PBR travels with, the one thing it doesn’t bring out on the road are the bulls.
“PBR does not own one bucking bull,” Simpson said. “I’ll let that resonate for a second.”
Instead, it contracts bulls from owners throughout the country. Think of it as rent-a-bull. The event in Green Bay will include 60 head of bulls owned by 15 different people, Simpson said.
“The concept of PBR is best of the best, so we try to bring in the best bulls we can, match them up to the best riders and let them do battle in the arena, and best man wins,” he said. “That simple formula has worked for the last 30-plus years.”
What about all the dirt that’s needed on the arena floor?
That’s rented, too. PBR has a network of people in each market that have the exact kind of dirt required, and let’s just say it’s fussy.
“We take our dirt serious, because that’s the competition field, and so it has to be a certain quality of dirt for us to actually buck bulls on,” Simpson said. “One, because we’re always looking out for the bulls. It can’t be loose and it can’t be too hard. It kind of has to be just right.”
Who fills the stands at PBR events?
Bull riding audiences come from all walks of life, and sold-out events aren’t common just in states with a cowboy culture like Texas. PBR sells out Madison Square Garden in New York City and three events each year in Maine. It plays the Staples Center in Los Angeles, home of the Lakers.
“You don’t have to live on a ranch or farm for a living to follow this sport. It appeals so broadly, and that’s why we’ve been so successful, too,” Simpson said. “A white collar family in a suburb can say, ‘Hey, let’s take the kids and let’s go down and watch bull riding.’ … Everybody kind of has a pair of cowboy boots. They get to go western for the night … and then they’re back in their normal lives the next day.”
How easy is it for people to get hooked?
“The product is so good that I only have to sell a person one time. If I can get somebody that has never seen a rodeo or bull riding to an event and they sit there and they watch what we do, that person comes back when we come back,” Simpson said. “The experience is just unexplainable for a live event. If you get there live and you watch it, you’re a fan for life.”
Kendra Meinert is an entertainment and feature writer at the Green Bay Press-Gazette. Contact her at 920-431-8347 or kmeinert@greenbay.gannett.com. Follow her on X @KendraMeinert.
This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: 60 bucking bulls, 31 top riders and a lot of pyro: Why the return of PBR to Green Bay is such a thrill
Reporting by Kendra Meinert, Green Bay Press-Gazette / Green Bay Press-Gazette
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