PBR Unleash The Beast User Guide

PBR Unleash The Beast

PBR USA TOURS

PBR brings “America’s Original Extreme Sport” to major arenas across the United States with the nationally televised Unleash The Beast, featuring the Top 40 bull riders in the world, in addition to the Pendleton Whisky Velocity Tour, Touring Pro Division and Challenger Series, the PBR’s expansion tours, and the revolutionary PBR Teams, a bull riding league which transforms the sport from an individual competition to a team event. Each event pits the toughest bull riders in the world against the top bovine athletes on the planet. During two hours of heart-pounding, bone-crushing, edge-of-the-seat excitement, fans are entertained by the thrills and spills on the dirt against the backdrop of the show’s rocking music and pyrotechnics. It is world-class athleticism and entertainment rolled into one, unlike any other major professional sport.

UNLEASH THE BEAST
The PBR’s nationally-televised Unleash The Beast (UTB) features the world’s Top 40 bull riders going head-to-head against the fiercest bucking bulls. During a regular-season, two-day UTB event, each of the competing riders will ride in one round each day – Round 1 and Round 2. Following Round 2, the riders with the 12 highest two-round total scores will advance to the championship round where they will each attempt one more bull. A  standard three-day event will feature a minimum of 30 riders, competing through three long rounds of competition. Following Round 3, the riders with the 12 highest three-round total scores will advance to the championship round where they will each attempt one more bull. While the long rounds are done by random draw, championship rounds at Unleash The Beast events feature a rider draft. The 2024 season also reintroduces PBR Majors, specially denoted three-day PBR events that offer increased points and payouts. The average (or aggregate) score earned during an event determines a rider’s place in the event standings.  In addition to earning Unleash The Beast points for their overall event finish, as determined by their aggregate score, riders will also earn points for their finish in each round, and for any ride scored more than 70 points unless the rider declines a re-ride due to an inferior bull.

PENDLETON WHISKY VELOCITY TOUR
PBR’s Pendleton Whisky Velocity Tour (PWVT) began in 2014 as the sport’s premier expansion series, featuring young, emerging bull-riding talent alongside some of the superstars of the sport. The PWVT brings the excitement and talent of the PBR that fans have come to expect from the leader in the sport of bull riding to cities across the U.S. that are not currently included on the premier series’ schedule. The Velocity Tour is completely produced and operated by PBR, providing fans with the highest quality experience available.

In 2023, the Velocity Tour Finals returned to Corpus Christi, Texas, launching the iconic Buc Days Western festival for the second consecutive season. The championship event at American Bank Center Arena culminated a high-intensity season that began the first week of January and crisscrossed the country with 27 events held across five months, including nine weekends with two events held simultaneously. Welcoming more than 300,000 fans throughout the 2023 season, the Velocity Tour hosted 17 sold-out, regular-season events, marking its most successful season in attendance since its inception in 2015. The PWVT is the primary and most important qualifying series for bull riders to qualify for the Unleash The Beast (UTB), and ultimately the PBR World Finals. The Velocity Tour runs in tandem with the premier series during the individual season, culminating in May. The PWVT Finals are featured as the last event of the season, taking place just before the PBR World Finals each year. The Top 35 riders from the Velocity Tour Global standings compete for the final five positions available at the PBR World Finals. Following the Velocity Tour Finals, the highest-placing rider at the event who has not already qualified, the Top Velocity Tour Global riders who have not already qualified, and the highest-placed international rider at the Velocity Tour Finals who has not already qualified all advance to the PBR World Finals the following weekend, making it the most important event on the schedule outside of the World Finals itself.

TOURING PRO DIVISION
The Touring Pro Division (TPD) is the developmental tour of the PBR where both established veterans and newcomers to the professional ranks compete against some of the most famous bucking bulls in the sport. The Touring Pro Division operates during the individual season, running in unison with the elite Unleash The Beast and Pendleton Whisky Velocity Tour. The TPD gives riders the opportunity to compete in PBR-sanctioned events while earning points to qualify for the Velocity Tour and ultimately the organization’s premier Unleash The Beast. The standard one-day TPD format has 35 competitors; each will attempt one bull in Round 1. The Top 10 riders advance to the championship round to compete on one more bull each. The overall event winner is the rider with the highest combined score on two bulls. Two-day TPD events will take up to 70 competitors, with 35 riders competing each day. The Top 10 riders each day advance to the championship round to compete on one more bull each. The overall event winner is the rider with the highest combined score on two bulls.

PBR CHALLENGER SERIES

PBR’s Challenger Series, which launched alongside PBR Teams in 2022, consists of more than 50 events traveling to more than 25 states across the United States and awarded more than $1 million in prize money in 2023. The PBR Challenger Series, the sport’s only domestic standalone series from June to October, serves as a proving ground giving additional competitive opportunities to bull riders who are both affiliated and unaffiliated with a PBR Teams’ organization. After the PBR Challenger Series regular season, the Top 40 riders in the series’ global standings qualify for the Challenger Series Championship, which is held in Las Vegas in conjunction with the PBR Teams Championship in late October. A select number of top-finishing riders in the final Challenger Series standings will earn berths in the Unleash The Beast events the following season.

PBR AUSTRALIA

PBRAUSTRALIA.COM.AU
Based in Townsville, Queensland, PBR Australia has been in operation since 2005, overseen by Managing Director Glen Young, both an Australian native and former bull rider. Producing two tours, PBR Australia holds more than 30 events each year. Points earned on both Australian tours count toward qualification for the PBR Australia Grand Finals in addition to both the Velocity Global and Challenger Series Global standings. The bull rider with the most national points earned at the end of the year, combining those earned from the regular season events and Grand Finals, will be crowned the PBR Australia Champion.

YEAR PBR AUSTRALIA CHAMPIONS

2023          MACAULIE LEATHER, CALLIOPE, QUEENSLAND, AUSTRALIA
2022          CODY HEFFERNAN, SINGLETON, NEW SOUTH WALES, AUSTRALIA
2021         AARON KLEIER, CLERMONT, QUEENSLAND, AUSTRALIA
2020          AARON KLEIER, CLERMONT, QUEENSLAND, AUSTRALIA
2019         AARON KLEIER, CLERMONT, QUEENSLAND, AUSTRALIA
2018         AARON KLEIER, CLERMONT, QUEENSLAND, AUSTRALIA
2017         TROY WILKINSON, UPPER HORTON, NEW SOUTH WALES, AUSTRALIA
2016         CODY HEFFERNAN, SINGLETON, NEW SOUTH WALES, AUSTRALIA
2015         FRASER BABBINGTON, GISBORNE, NZL, NEW ZEALAND
2014         DAVE KENNEDY, KYOGLE, NEW SOUTH WALES, AUSTRALIA
2013         CHRIS LOWE, URALLA, NEW SOUTH WALES, AUSTRALIA
2012         DAVID KENNEDY, KYOGLE, NEW SOUTH WALES, AUSTRALIA
2011         KEVIN “JOCK” CONNOLLY, CHARTERS TOWERS, QUEENSLAND, AUSTRALIA
2010         DAVID KENNEDY, KYOGLE, NEW SOUTH WALES, AUSTRALIA
2009          DAVID KENNEDY, KYOGLE, NEW SOUTH WALES, AUSTRALIA
2008         PETE FARLEY, KEMPSEY, NEW SOUTH WALES, AUSTRALIA
2007         BEN JONES, GOULBOURN, NEW SOUTH WALES, AUSTRALIA
2006          TIM WILSON, BILOELA, QUEENSLAND, AUSTRALIA

PBR BRAZIL

PBRBRAZIL.COM.BR

In Brazil, live attendance at Western sports events is nearly double the live gate of soccer. Eight different Brazilian riders have won a collective 13 PBR World Championships, including Ribas do Rio Pardo native Jose Vitor Leme, who became just the second back-to-back PBR World Champion in 2021. In 2023, Rafael Jose de Brito made history, becoming the first rider to win the PBR World Championship and PBR Rookie of the Year honor in the same season. Eight of the past 14 World Championships have been won by a Brazilian rider: Brito (2023), Leme (2020, 2021), Kaique Pacheco (2018), Silvano Alves (2011, 2012 and 2014) and Renato Nunes (2010). In 2022 and 2023, the first two seasons for the PBR Teams League, Leme was also named the PBR Teams MVP. In Brazil, the bull rider with the most points earned at the end of the year is crowned the PBR Brazil Champion at the PBR Brazil Finals. During Brazilian events, riders also earn both Velocity Global and Challenger Series Global points, in addition to national points.

YEAR| PBR BRAZIL CHAMPIONS|
---|---|---
2023| JEAN FERNANDES PEREIRA, CRIXAS, GOIAS, BRAZIL|
2022| CASSIO DIAS, SAO F. DE SALES, MINAS GERAIS, BRAZIL|
2021| N/A|
2020| N/A|
2019| ALAN DE SOUZA, TAUBATE, SÃO PAULO, BRAZIL|
2018| FERNANDO NOVAIS, PEREIRA BARRETO, SÃO PAULO, BRAZIL|
2017| JOSE VITOR LEME, RIBAS DO RIO PARDO, MATO GROSSO DO SUL, BRAZIL|
2016| DENER BARBOSA, PAULO DE FARIA, SÃO PAULO, BRAZIL|
2015| LUCIANO HENRIQUE DE CASTRO, GUZOLÂNDIA, SÃO PAULO, BRAZIL|
2014| TIAGO VITOR, FLOREAL, SÃO PAULO, BRAZIL|
2013| CLAUDIO CRISOSTOMO, BARRO ALTO, GOIÁS, BRAZIL|
2012| EDEVALDO FERREIRA, ANDRADINA, SÃO PAULO, BRAZIL|
2011| EDEVALDO FERREIRA, ANDRADINA, SÃO PAULO, BRAZIL|
2010| ELTON CIDE, POPULINA, SÃO PAULO, BRAZIL|
2009| THIAGO PAGUIOTO, ITAJOBI, SÃO PAULO, BRAZIL|
2008| EDMUNDO GOMES, ATIBAIA, SÃO PAULO, BRAZIL|
2007| JOAO MAURO KUGEL, SAO JOSE DO RIO PRETO, SÃO PAULO, BRAZIL|
2006| ELTON JOSE DE SOUZA, POMPEIA, SÃO PAULO, BRAZIL|

Note: Due to restrictions implemented due to COVID-19 (coronavirus), PBR Brazil was unable to hold events in 2020, resulting in no champion being crowned. PBR Brazil only held one event in 2021 and therefore didn’t crown a champion during that season either.

PBR CANADA

• PBRCANADA.COM

Established in 2006, PBR Canada operates two competition series, annually producing more than 30 events across two tours: the elite Cup Series, which is nationally televised by TSN, and the Touring Pro Division. After a successful 2019 season, PBR Canada continued growing in 2020, adapting to the challenges faced by COVID-19 (coronavirus). After holding two tour stops in Calgary and Lethbridge, Alberta, which included two sold-out performances before the onset of the pandemic, PBR pioneered the return of professional sports in the nation with a uniquely formatted drive-in event in Lethbridge in July. The division’s 2020 season concluded with the PBR Canada Finals Week in Grande Prairie, Alberta, a three-day, four-event stretch of year-ending action inside Revolution Place. In 2021, PBR continued to take the sport of bull riding to new heights in Canada. In addition to televising select Touring Pro Division events on Cowboy Channel Canada, the division brought the National Finals to the state-of-the-art Rogers Place in Edmonton, Alberta, for the first time, awarding more than $175,000 in prize money, making the year-end event the richest in Canada’s history. Building on the momentum of the past two seasons, PBR Canada had one of its most exciting seasons in 2022, as the National Finals, once again at the prestigious Rogers Place in Edmonton, concluded arguably the most intense title race in PBR Canada history. Most recently, in 2023, PBR Canada again upped the stakes for bull riders, increasing the total National Finals purse to $225,000, including a $100,000 bonus to the Canadian Champion. The new purse makes the PBR Canada National Finals the second richest in the PBR, behind the World Finals. Points earned on both the Cup Series and Touring Pro Division count toward qualifying for the PBR Canada National Finals. The bull rider with the most points earned at the end of the year, combining those earned from the regular-season events and the Finals, will be crowned the PBR Canada Champion. Riders also earn points toward the Velocity Tour and Challenger Series Global standings.

PBR WORLD FINALS

The PBR World Finals is known as the sport’s Super Bowl – a grueling multi-day event that marks the end of the PBR individual season, determines the best rider and bull for the year, and turns one cowboy into a millionaire. The World Finals is the richest bull riding event in the sport, which includes a $1 million bonus awarded to the rider who is crowned the PBR World Champion, and the 2024 event culminating at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, TX will award a record-setting $3.13 million in prize money. Each season, for roughly 27 weeks/events on the premier Unleash The Beast (UTB), and through the Pendleton Whisky Velocity Tour (PWVT), Touring Pro Division (TPD), and the PBR’s international circuits in Australia, Brazil, and Canada, bull riders compete for individual event titles and valuable points needed to qualify for the premier series to ultimately reach the World Finals and contend for the title of PBR World Champion. For 26 years, Las Vegas was the site of the PBR’s drama-packed season finale, held 2016-2019 at the state-of-the-art T-Mobile Arena. The 2020 installment of the world’s richest bull riding event traveled to AT&T Stadium, due to local COVID-19 (coronavirus) protocols and was shortened from five days to four. In 2021, as part of a comprehensive 2022 schedule restructure for its premier series, PBR announced the relocation of its crown jewel, the World Finals, to Fort Worth and Dickies Arena, beginning in May 2022. As part of the relocation, PBR condensed the annual schedule for Unleash The Beast, which in 2022 spanned January-May, with subsequent seasons starting in 2023 scheduled for November-May. While the individual season was dormant, the newly launched PBR Teams traveled the nation, transforming bull riding from an individual to a team sport. The inaugural PBR World Finals in Fort Worth was held from May 13-22, 2022, at Dickies Arena, headlining an action-packed two weeks of activities across Fort Worth with a format harkening back to past World Finals split between Mandalay Bay and Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas with the first three rounds held the first Friday- Sunday, followed by the final five rounds held the following Thursday-Sunday. At the end of the World Finals, the points earned for the entire season on the premier series are also added together. The rider who has earned the most points throughout the regular season on the elite tour and at the World Finals becomes the PBR World Champion. Beginning in 2024, the PBR World Finals will feature 10 rounds of action split across multiple venues in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex in a playoff-type format, including a first-of-its-kind set of rounds for eliminated competitors to ride their way back into the World Finals. The event will also pay an unprecedented $3.13 million. The record prize purse has been increased by nearly a half-million dollars from the 2023 iteration of the event.

The 2024 PBR World Finals will begin May 9-12 at a location to be announced at a later date before continuing May 15-16 at Cowtown Coliseum in Fort Worth, Texas, and concluding at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas on May 18-19. The event begins May 9-12 with Eliminations, featuring the Top 40 riders from the Unleash The Beast standings, joined by the five invited riders advancing via the Velocity Tour Finals. During the elimination rounds, each of the 45 competing riders will attempt one bull daily. Following the four days of action, the Top 15 in the Unleash The Beast standings, and the Top 5 in the event aggregate, not already advancing, will earn a direct berth to the 2024 PBR World Finals Championship at AT&T Stadium on May 18-19. During the Eliminations, more than $770,000 will be paid out, with the top scorer daily collecting $35,000, and the winner of the four rounds netting $150,000. The newly implemented Ride for Redemption, held inside the iconic Cowtown Coliseum, features the 25 riders who didn’t qualify for the next round in the first three days of competition joined by 15 riders from PBR Teams in a selection process to be announced. All 40 riders will attempt one bull each night, and those contenders with the Top 5 scores in the Ride For Redemption aggregate will earn a berth to the PBR World Finals Championship in Arlington. The World Finals Ride For Redemption, held at the famed, newly renovated rodeo arena where PBR held its first event in 1993, will award nearly $23,000 nightly, which is nearly double the payout awarded during a regular season Unleash The Beast round. The 2024 PBR World Finals will come to a climactic end with the Championship event at AT&T Stadium from May 18-19, featuring the 20 advancing riders from the elimination rounds and the five competitors who punched their tickets via Ride For Redemption at Cowtown Coliseum. Each day of the competition will feature two rounds, with Rounds 1-2 on May 18, followed by Rounds 3-4 on May 19. While the riders who earned a berth via Eliminations are guaranteed to compete in all four Championship rounds, contenders who advanced via Ride For Redemption must record a score in Round 1 to advance to Round 2 and then log a qualified ride in Round 2 to remain in the World Finals Championship for Rounds 3-4. After Round 4 at the 2024 PBR World Finals Championship, the new World Champion will be the No. 1-ranked rider in the Unleash The Beast standings. The 2024 PBR World Finals event winner will be the rider with the top aggregate score across the four rounds of action inside AT&T Stadium.

Inside AT&T Stadium, PBR will award more than $2.31 million, including the $1 million bonus to the 2024 PBR World Champion, $350,000 to the World Finals event winner, and $50,000 to each of the four Championship round winners. Only eight times in PBR history have the World Finals event winner and the PBR World Champion been the same rider. In 2004, Mike Lee became the first athlete to accomplish the feat, followed by Renato Nunes in 2010, J.B. Mauney in 2013, Silvano Alves in 2014, Jess Lockwood in 2019, Jose Vitor Leme in 2021, Daylon Swearingen in 2022 and most recently Rafael Jose de Brito in 2023. In 2023, Brito also became the first rider in history to be crowned World Champion and Rookie of the Year in the same campaign. The World Finals points system was modified in 2004 to ensure that the PBR World Champion was not determined prior to the World Finals. This gave virtually every rider in the Top 10 a mathematical chance of becoming the PBR World Champion. Following a subsequent change in 2015 to emphasize the importance of winning, additional World Finals points system changes were made in 2020, increasing the amount of points available at the season-culminating event by 4.3% compared to 2019. While fewer points are available, compared to regular-season events, the World Finals’ importance is augmented. The event now offers 12% of the season’s world points, as compared to 8% in 2019. In 2021, PBR introduced bonus points to the World Finals, awarded to any rider recording a score of 70 points or more. The new format in 2024 further increases the points available at World Finals and splits the event into two separate aggregates between the Eliminations and Championship rounds. Below is the points system used to determine the PBR World Champion. (For more complete information on the points system, please refer to the Bull Riding Basics section of this media guide.)

POINTS SYSTEM PRIOR TO 2024 WORLD FINALS

FINISH

| ROUND POINTS| AVERAGE POINTS| ****

RIDE SCORE

| BONUS POINTS
FIRST| 80| 560| 90+| 9
SECOND| 40| 350| 80+| 8
THIRD| 36| 250| 70+| 7
FOURTH| 32| 150|  |
FIFTH| 28| 134|  |
SIXTH| 24| 114|  |
SEVENTH| 20| 90|  |
EIGHTH| 16| 62|  |
NINTH| 12| 30|  |
TENTH| 8| 15|  |
ELEVENTH| 5| 5|  |
TWELFTH| 4| 4|  |
THIRTEENTH| 3| 3|  |
FOURTEENTH| 2| 2|  |
FIFTEENTH| 1| 1|  |

THE POINT SYSTEM WAS CHANGED IN 2015, 2020, AND 2023.

FINISH

| ROUND POINTS| ELIMINATIONS AGGREGATE| CHAMPIONSHIPS AGGREGATE| RIDE SCORE| BONUS POINTS
FIRST| 80| 200| 400| 90+| 9
SECOND| 40| 125| 250| 80+| 8
THIRD| 36| 90| 180| 70+| 7
FOURTH| 32| 54| 110|  |
FIFTH| 28| 46| 95|  |
SIXTH| 24| 36| 80|  |
SEVENTH| 20| 24| 65|  |
EIGHTH| 16| 16| 45|  |
NINTH| 12| 10| 20|  |
TENTH| 8| 6| 10|  |
ELEVENTH| 5| 4| 5|  |
TWELFTH| 4|  | 4|  |
THIRTEENTH| 3|  | 3|  |
FOURTEENTH| 2|  | 2|  |
FIFTEENTH| 1|  | 1|  |

• NOTE: RIDERS DO NOT EARN UNLEASH THE BEAST POINTS DURING RIDE FOR REDEMPTION.

2023 PBR WORLD CHAMPION & WORLD FINALS EVENT WINNER

››› RAFAEL JOSE DE BRITO

Rafael Jose de Brito put together arguably the greatest rookie season the PBR has ever seen in 2023, becoming the first rider in history to complete the trifecta of winning the World Finals while being crowned the PBR Rookie of the Year and World Champion in the same season. Following a break-through campaign representing the Texas Rattlers in the separate PBR Teams, Brito made his Unleash The Beast debut as a 30-year-old. In his first premier series event, he finished second in Minneapolis, Minneapolis, which he followed with back- to-back Top 5 efforts the following weekends in Manchester, New Hampshire, and Albany, New York. Following his successful December, Brito had a rocky January, but quickly righted the ship in February. As the elite tour returned to Eugene, Oregon, Brito logged his first Unleash The Beast win going a perfect 3-for-3 and capping his efforts with a mammoth 91-point ride. As the regular season wound to a close, Brito earned an accompanying three Top 5 finishes, qualifying for his career-first PBR World Finals ranked No. 9 in the world while holding down the top spot in the Rookie of the Year race. Inside Dickies Arena, Brito was slow to find his groove, bucked off by Top Dollar in Round 1 and Stone Cold Gangster in Round 2. Returning with a newfound confidence in Round 3, Brito rode Chiseled for a mammoth 90.5 points. The score netted him a crucial 89 points, allowing to move upwards in the gold buckle race from No. 9 to No. 7, while adding to his lead for the Rookie of the Year title. On the spurs of the score, during the break in the two-weekend World Finals event, Brito returned home to Tupelo, Oklahoma, where he currently resides in the United States with stock contractors Katie Perschbacher and Laramie Wilson, for a few days of much-needed relaxation. “He went home to kind of relax and get away from everything going on here,” Perschbacher said. “We hung out, bucked some bulls, and it was an easy couple of days. He didn’t have anything to worry about. I don’t even think he cooked dinner.” Back in Fort Worth, refreshed and refocused, Brito turned things around down the stretch. While he was bucked off by Ricky Vaughn in Round 4, he recovered in Round 5 when he rode Time Bomb for 89.25 points. Brito cracked the Top 5 in the World Championship battle. Garnering 46 Unleash The Beast points, he surged from No. 7 to No. 5 and was within 290 points of the No. 1 rank. The score also allowed him to gain ground in the Rookie of the Year race, rising 209.67 points ahead of the then-second-place contender Daniel Keeping, who was shut out at the 2023 PBR World Finals. Brito’s momentum continued to mount in Round 6 as he overtook the World Finals event lead courtesy of an 88.5-point ride atop Short Circuit that netted another 46 points. While Brito remained No. 5 in the standings, he rose within 244 points of No. 1 Pacheco. “I’m not thinking about getting the world title,”

Brito said following Round 6 of the World Finals. “I’m just trying to think about bull after bull, over and over, and ride my bulls and do my best.” Brito also extended his lead atop the Rookie of the Year race, surging 276.5 points out in front of the new No. 2-ranked rider Wingson Henrique da Silva. Silva was challenging Brito in the Rookie of the Year battle, as well as in the race for the World Finals event title and World Championship. Heading into Championship Sunday, Brito and Silva were two of just six riders to have gone 3-for-6 at the World Finals. Silva’s three scores, logged consecutively in Rounds 3-5, led him to begin the final day of the individual season third on the World Finals event leaderboard, 4.75 points behind Brito, and No. 11 in the World Championship standings. Atop the event leaderboard as the final day of the season got underway, and within striking distance of the 2023 PBR World Championship, Brito elected to go head-to-head with Red Mosquito, while Silva architected a matchup between himself and Ivy League. Both decisions proved fruitful as each rider made the 8, marking a matching 88.25 points, to tie for second in the round on the final day of the championship event. Brito and Silva’s scores, coupled with key buck offs from Dalton Kasel, Dener Barbosa, Cooper Davis, and Andrew Alvidrez made it a three-rider race entering the championship round. The third contender, two-time PBR World Champion Jose Vitor Leme, kept his title hopes alive in Round 7 when he delivered the second-best score, covering JAG Metals Grand Theft for 90.25 points. The ride, which also avenged a buck off from Round 2, brought Leme 49 Unleash The Beast points, briefly giving him the world No. 1 rank as he surpassed Pacheco by 9 points. As the sixth man out in the championship round, Leme’s renewed hopes of victory were quickly extinguished when he was tossed by Yellowknife in a swift 1.8 seconds. Then it all came down to the final two outs of the season as Silva readied to take on Ricky Vaughn, while Brito found his name matched with World Champion Bull contender Flapjack’s.

While Silva was first out, the tension quickly mounted as he was awarded a re- ride when Ricky Vaughn stumbled. Silva’s third bull of the day, Hunting Trip, would be his final bovine athlete opponent of the season. In a must-ride situation, Silva failed to convert and bucked off in 4.93 seconds – making Brito the 2023 World Champion. Despite still needing to attempt his draw, Brito, who would inevitably be bucked off by Flapjack in 0.97 seconds, began to tear up atop the back of the chutes as Silva’s buckoff clinched a never- before-accomplished trifecta for Brito, as he won the World Finals to clinch the 2023 Rookie of the Year honor and 2023 PBR World Championship. “I just started to look back, all the way since I came here,” Brito said with the help of Nilson Correia translating. “It was a lot of emotions, a lot of moments, and I just thought about every moment that I passed through here.” Perschbacher, who had been telling people she met in Fort Worth that Brito was her brother, burst into tears. When it was safe to do so, she vaulted over the fence and raced across the dirt to celebrate.

“I’m sure security loved me,” she joked. “But I went down there, and Laramie was down there, and Pessimo and I think Pessimo tackled him in the dirt. So, there was lots of excitement, and it’s been a blessing to get to watch him. “There are no words for this. He is so deserving. He deserves this, and it’s so cool to be able to watch him be the first Rookie of the Year to win a world title. Not only did he win a world title and get a gold buckle, he put his name in the history books forever. They can never take that away from him, and I think that’s just the coolest thing in the world. He deserved it.” Brito is one of just six riders to win Rookie of the Year honors and the World Finals event title in the same year, joining Ronnie Kitchens (1996), Luke Snyder (2001), Jody Newberry (2003), Leme (2017) and Boudreaux Campbell (2020). He is also the eighth rider to win both the World Championship and World Finals event title in the same season, joining Daylon Swearingen (2022), Leme (2021), Jess Lockwood (2019), Silvano Alves (2014), J.B. Mauney (2013), Renato Nunes (2010) and Mike Lee (2004).

No other rider in history has ever won all three simultaneously. After he received his buckles – three of them – big checks and drank from the Jerome Davis Cup, Brito still seemed stunned by the moment. “I can’t explain the emotion,” he said. “I’m still trying to process everything. I just want to thank everybody who supports me and has been here with me. “I’m so grateful to have everybody here, like Adriano (Moraes), Silvano, Jose Vitor, and everybody, just giving me more strength to conquer what I did tonight.” And while Brito was stunned dirt side, the possibility of him winning the world title was a topic of conversation at home for a good four months. “We’ve talked about it for so long,” Perschbacher said. “I mean, ‘You could be the World Champion. Do you understand? You could win.’ And I think once we got him convinced, there was no stopping him. They made him earn it, they made him work for it, but it’s an answered prayer.” “I’m glad he finally believed in himself,” Wilson added. “Self-confidence was always a key – it never was his ability to ride the bulls. It was believing in himself. He had a rough first two rounds, but after the third round, it kind of lit a fire, and he realized he belonged here on the biggest stage. And he just kept the ball rolling and kept moving forward from there.” Brito concluded the World Championship race 287 points ahead of No. 2 Leme and, in the Rookie of the Year battle, 486.5 points ahead of runner-up Silva. On the World Finals event leaderboard, Brito edged second-place Silva by 4.75 points in the aggregate.

2023 YETI PBR WORLD CHAMPION BULL

››› RIDIN’ SOLO
In 2023, Ridin’ Solo reached rare air among bovine athletes, becoming just the seventh bull to win multiple YETI PBR World Champion Bull titles, joining Dillinger (2001, 2002), Little Yellow Jacket (2002- 2004), Bones (2008, 2010), Bushwacker (2011, 2013, 2014), Sweet Pro’s Bruiser (2016- 2018) and Smooth Operator (2019, 2020). Ridin’ Solo also joined another elite tier of animal athletes, becoming the fifth bovine to win the honor in back-to-back seasons. After winning his first World Championship in 2022, Ridin’ Solo didn’t return to the PBR arena until the fifth 2023 Unleash The Beast event of the season in Albany, New York, in December. Ridin Solo’s late return to competition gave the other bulls a head start as the title push began in July 2023 with the launch of the PBR Teams, continuing into the 2023 Unleash The Beast season. “Some of the bulls had six scores stacked up there,” stock contractor Cord McCoy said. “So, I feel like Solo had to go harder than everybody else to put up the numbers, and I felt like I was cutting the bull short if I wasn’t allowing him to be there.” Despite the late start, Ridin’ Solo delivered a strong end to the regular season, qualifying for the World Finals ranked No. 2 in the standings, 0.41 points behind Cool Whip. During the regular season, both Cool Whip and Ridin’ Solo were named the YETI “Built for the Wild” Bull of the Event a PBR-best four times. Bucking 16 times before the World Finals, Ridin’ Solo was ridden just once, covered by Joao Ricardo Vieira for 91.5 points during the 15/15 Bucking Battle in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Of those outs, Ridin Solo was marked more than 46 points three times, including for a monstrous 47.25 points in Albuquerque when he tossed Josh Frost in a swift 2.86 seconds. Once inside Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, and courtesy of two mammoth 46+-point outs, Ridin’ Solo overtook Cool Whip and held off a hard- charging UTZ BesTex Legend and Flapjack to be crowned the YETI PBR World Champion Bull
title and Bull of the Finals. “When we come into today, it still

felt like everybody’s chance,” McCoy said from the dirt after winning the championship, holding a gold buckle and big check. “The No. 1 bull coming in here (Cool Whip) had moved to fourth, and you’ve got Ricky Vaughn, who, at one time, threw up the best numbers of the year. Legend was kind of picking up his momentum. It felt like whoever was the champion today was going to be the World Champion. It felt like we still had a little bit of a hiccup there, and I was worried that it didn’t come through. But man, Solo, even though he was in a bind leaving the chute, just finishing the jumps, seemed to pull it off.” Legend ultimately finished in a tie for No. 2 with Flapjack, 0.07 points behind No.1 Ridin’ Solo, followed by No. 4 Cool Whip and No. 5 Ricky Vaughn. McCoy admits that he was incredibly nervous for weeks leading up to the World Finals despite Ridin’ Solo’s history of success in Fort Worth, as he put up two bull scores of 47 points to win his world title in 2022. However, Ridin’ Solo proved he was still a hoof above the competition, scoring 46 points with Dener Barbosa in Round 2 and 46.5 points when he was matched up against Chase Outlaw in Round 4 for the highest marked out at World Finals. “He is a dream. He’s less than a once-in-a-lifetime for us. I wouldn’t even believe that we would ever own two like him,” McCoy said. “He didn’t need a warmup for Fort Worth, and I think that’s what won it, when he come in at 46 the first round and just used that momentum to buck again on Thursday. He came in with winning on his mind, and we just tried to stay out of his way. Solo, he likes to win, so really, it’s just give him the best opportunity that we can. That’s what you tell yourself this morning: don’t do anything different than you did in New York or Milwaukee or Las Vegas. Just try to match what you’ve been doing all year.” Only three bulls have ever been crowned a World Championship three times — Little Yellow Jacket, Bushwacker and SweetPro’s Bruiser. Ridin’ Solo and McCoy are ready to hit the road once again in 2023-2024 as they look to enter this elite club and join Little Yellow Jacket and SweetPro’s Bruiser with three-straight World titles. “Gotta go for it,” McCoy said. “Until Solo says slow down, we’ve got to go again.”

2023 PBR WORLD FINALS AWARDS

• PBR WORLD CHAMPION RAFAEL JOSE DE BRITO
  The rider who earns the most PBR Unleash The Beast points during the regular season and multi-day World Finals.

• PBR WORLD FINALS EVENT WINNER RAFAEL JOSE DE BRITO
  The rider who earns the most PBR Unleash The Beast points at the World Finals.

• PBR ROOKIE OF THE YEAR RAFAEL JOSE DE BRITO
  The first-year rider on the premier series who accumulates the most PBR Unleash The Beast throughout the regular-season and PBR World Finals.

• STOCK CONTRACTOR OF THE YEAR BLAKE SHARP
  The stock contractor who provides the best bucking bulls as voted by the Top 40 bull riders on the premier series.

• YETI PBR WORLD CHAMPION BULL RIDIN’ SOLO
  Determined by a bull’s Top 8 outs during regular-season events on the premier series and Teams, in addition to his best two of three outs at the PBR World Finals. The bull with the highest average bull score across those 10 outs is crowned the YETI PBR World Champion Bull.

• YETI BULL OF THE PBR WORLD FINALS RIDIN’ SOLO
  The bull(s) who record the top two-score average during the event.

• MASON LOWE AWARD KAIQUE PACHECO
  This award is presented to the rider with the highest-scored ride of the Unleash The Beast regular season.

• GLEN KEELEY AWARD NICK TETZ
  This award is given to the Canadian bull rider who earns the most Unleash The Beast points throughout the regular-season.

• LANE FROST/BRENT THURMAN AWARD ANDREW ALVIDREZ
  The winner of this award is the bull rider who receives the highest score on a single ride during the PBR World Finals.

• PBR WORLD FINALS BULLFIGHTERS NATHAN HARP, BRYCE REDO, LUCAS TEODORO AND CODY WEBSTER
  The PBR World Finals Bullfighters are chosen by the top riders in the Unleash The Beast standings prior to the championship event.

• 2023 ABBI CLASSIC WORLD CHAMPION BUCKING BULL FLYIN WIRED (JULIAN/BS CATTLE CO.)
  The ABBI Classic World Champion Bull is the top 3- or 4-year-old bull as determined by his Top 6 scores headed into the ABBI World Finals, in addition to his two performances at the season-culminating event, which coincides with the PBR Teams Championship.

• 2023 ABBI WORLD FINALS CLASSIC CHAMPION BUCKING BULL FLYIN WIRED (JULIAN/BS CATTLE CO.)
  The honor, which also includes a $100,000 bonus, is awarded to the Classic bull with the top score across his two outs at the ABBI World Finals, which coincides with the PBR Teams Championship.

• 2023 ABBI FUTURITY WORLD CHAMPION BUCKING BULL BUCK BIDEN (BUCKIN FUN GROUP/HILTON BULL CO)
  The ABBI Futurity World Champion is the 2-year-old bull with the highest score when Top 10 marks of the season are averaged together with his two round scores at the Futurity Finals which coincides with the PBR Teams Championship.

2023 PBR WORLD FINALS EVENT RESULTS

RIDER| EVENT PLACE| EVENT POINTS| EVENT EARNINGS
---|---|---|---
RAFAEL JOSE DE BRITO| 1| 783| $1, 390, 500
WINGSON HENRIQUE DA SILVA| 2| 508| $200,666.67
RAMON DE LIMA| 3| 370| $114, 500
BRAIDY RANDOLPH| 4| 264| $90, 500
JESSE PETRI| 5| 221| $75,166.67
DAWSON BRANTON| 6| 178| $37,000
JOSH FROST| 7| 271| $157, 500
JOSE VITOR LEME| 8| 145| $87, 500
DENER BARBOSA| 9| 155| $61, 500
BOUDREAUX CAMPBELL| 10| 86| $35, 500
JOAO LUCAS CAMPOS| 11| 103| $40,166.67
COLTEN FRITZLAN| 12| 72| $25, 500
ANDREW ALVIDREZ| 13| 92| $43, 500
DEREK KOLBABA| 14| 89. 5| $41,750
AUSTIN RICHARDSON| 14| 89. 5| $44, 250
DALTON KASEL| 16| 44| $25, 500
FLAVIO ZIVIERI| 16| 40| $14, 500
NICK TETZ| 16| 48| $22, 500
JOÃO RICARDO VIEIRA| 19| 48| $25, 500
KYLER OLIVER| 19| 46| $22,000
MARCUS MAST| 19| 34| $9,000
CHASE DOUGHERTY| 22| 44| $19, 500
COOPER DAVIS| 23| 34| $10,000
LUCAS DIVINO| 23| 34| $9,000
EDUARDO APARECIDO| 25| 36| $11, 500
EZEKIEL MITCHELL| 25| 22| $4, 500
TATE POLLMEIER| 27| 16| $5, 500
SILVANO ALVES| 28| 13| $4, 500
GUILHERME VALLEIRAS| 29| 10| $4, 500
KOLTIN HEVALOW| 29| 22| $4, 500
KEYSHAWN WHITEHORSE| 31| 28| $6, 500
BRADY TURGEON| 32| 24| $4, 500
KAIQUE PACHECO| –| 0| $28,000
DANIEL KEEPING| –| 0| $5, 500
LUCIANO DE CASTRO| –| 0| $4, 500
RAFAEL HENRIQUE DOS SANTOS| –| 0| $4, 500
MASON TAYLOR| –| 0| $4, 500
ELI VASTBINDER| –| 0| $4, 500
MANOELITO DE SOUZA JUNIOR| –| 0| $4, 500
MARCELO PROCOPIO PEREIRA| –| 0| $4, 500
BRADY OLESON| –| 0| $4, 500
JESS LOCKWOOD| –| 0| $4, 500
WYATT ROGERS| –| 0| $4, 500
CASEY ROBERTS| –| 0| $0
BOB MITCHELL| –| 0| $0
CHASE OUTLAW| –| 0| $4, 500
DAKOTA LOUIS| –| 0| $4, 500
AARON WILLIAMS| –| 0| $0
VITOR LOSNAKE| –| 0| $0
TYLER MANOR| –| 0| $0
CLAUDIO MONTANHA JR.| –| 0| $0

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