PBR World Finals kicks off at Cowtown Coliseum

At the Fort Worth Stockyards, the biggest Western event kicked off Thursday — the PBR World Finals.

“We compare it a lot, you know, if you go to the Final Four or the Super Bowl,” PBR Senior Vice President of Fan Engagement Flint Rasmussen said. “It’s not just about the game, it’s about a whole experience.”

With a Fan Fest area outside the Stockyards Coliseum, and bull riding inside, the PBR event is meant to bring people into the sport.

“We have our core fans that we really need to cater to and bring this Western lifestyle to ’em,” Rasmussen said. “The hard and fun balance about it is, what about those people that are coming for the first time that know nothing?”

The PBR World Finals is a two-weekend event. This weekend in Fort Worth is the elimination round. The finals are next weekend at AT&T Stadium in Arlington.

“Anything can happen. You never know what’s gonna happen. Either it can go good one day, and horrible the next,” professional bull rider Conner Halverson said “This particular event, the World Finals, this is what we work all year for. This is what we dreamed of as little kids, being at this level, at this event.”

In this competition, both the riders and the bulls are competing for cash prizes.

“So these animals truly are bred to buck. What they’re doing is for the love of it,” American Bucking Bull Inc. President Jay Daugherty said. “It’s a sport for them and these guys have shown they can do it at the highest level.”

It all comes down to eight seconds.