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Honda Center braces for bull riders, bucking bulls and the baddest body in sports – Bushwacker Feb. 7-9

February at the Honda Center has meant bull riding for the past 16 years and the Professional Bull Riders are headed back again Feb. 7-9 with the Liftmaster Chute Out, part of the elite Built Ford Tough Series. 

It’s a three-day event featuring the world’s Top 35 bull riders facing off with 2000 pounds of sinewy brawn during 8-second battles where only one athlete will be left standing.  It will also be the second stop on the Farewell Tour for the greatest bucking bull in PBR history – Bushwacker.

Bushwacker is the reigning two-time PBR World Champion bull. He has been declared the greatest bull the PBR has ever known and the most popular athlete on the BFTS tour.  His merchandise sales outpace the bull riders and every other bull on the tour. With attention from USA Today, ESPN, CBS This Morning and The Wall Street Journal, he has the highest profile of all the athletes.

Bushwacker’s team recently announced that 2014 is the last year of his career; he will officially retire after the PBR World Finals in October in Las Vegas and return to his home in Northern California.  As such, SoCal fans will see “baddest body in sports” (ESPN The Magazine) for the last time in Anaheim when he bucks during the 15/15 Bucking Battle on Saturday night, Feb. 8.

Tickets for the Liftmaster Chute Out range in price from $17 to $129 and can be purchased at all Ticketmaster outlets, online at www.ticketmaster.com and via phone at (800) 345-3000. All the bull riding action begins Friday at 8 p.m., Saturday at 6:50 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. 

In 2013, the PBR drew more than 30,000 fans to Honda Center to set a new attendance record for the three-day competition. PBR expects much of the same in 2014.

Rounds 1-3 will take place Friday, Saturday and Sunday with each bull rider facing one bull each night.  Following Round 3 on Sunday, the Top 15 riders with the highest cumulative scores will advance to the Built Ford Tough Championship Round that same day.  The overall event winner will be the rider with the highest-combined score from all four rounds, earning at least $30,000 for first place.

On Saturday after Round 2 the Top 15 bull riders in the world and the Top 15 bulls will face off in the 15/15 Bucking Battle, a special round of competition offering added prize money and double the points toward the world championship title.  This round will also feature Bushwacker and offer the lucky bull rider facing him a $25,000 bonus for making a qualified 8-second ride. The 15/15 Bucking Battle will air on CBS Network Television at 12 p.m. ET on Sunday, Feb. 9.

Six PBR World Champions have captured this event title in previous years; the best men rise to the top in Southern California.   

2013    Shane Proctor                                       2005 Greg Potter, Adriano Moraes – 1994, 2001, 2006 WC

2012    Guilherme Marchi – 2008 WC             2004 Greg Potter

2011    Silvano Alves  – 2011, ’12 WC             2003 Justin McBride – 2005, 2007 WC

2010    Kody Lostroh – 2009 WC                    2002 Adriano Moraes

2009    Kody Lostroh                                      2001 Ty Murray

2008    Paulo Crimber                                      2000 J.W. Hart

2007    Greg Potter                                         1999 Cody Hart – 1999 WC

2006    Mike Lee – 2004 WC

WC = PBR World Champion

Reigning PBR World Champion J.B. Mauney, the first man in four years to ride the “unridable” Bushwacker since 2009, ending the bull’s record-setting buck off streak at 42 buckoffs, is expected to compete, alongside former World Champions, Alves (2011, 2012), Renato Nunes (2010), Kody Lostroh (2009), Guilherme Marchi (2008) and Mike Lee (2004). Young guns Douglas Duncan, Jory Markiss and Chase Outlaw will also be in the house along with fan favorites L.J. Jenkins, Ben Jones and Ryan Dirteater.

Anaheim will be the sixth stop of 27 on the 2014 PBR Built Ford Tough Series schedule. The season kicked off Jan. 3-5 New York City at Madison Square Garden and will conclude at the PBR Built Ford Tough World Finals in Las Vegas on Oct. 22-26, when the 2014 PBR World Champion, the bull rider who earns the most points during the 2014 season, will receive the coveted world championship belt buckle and $1 champion’s million bonus.

The BFTS is televised every week on CBS, CBS Sports Network and networks around the world. BFTS telecasts are produced for the PBR under a multi-year agreement with David Neal Productions, a Los Angeles-based production company led by 34-time Emmy® Award winner and Peabody Award winner David Neal, who serves as executive producer.

About the Professional Bull Riders, Inc. (PBR)
The world’s premier bull riding organization, the PBR, turns 21 in 2014. In just two decades, the dream of 20 bull riders has become a global sports phenomenon with PBR broadcasts reaching more than half a billion households in 50 nations and territories around the world, and more than 2.5 million fans attending live events each year. PBR has paid out more than $130 million in earnings to its athletes, and 27 riders have earned more than $1 million, including Justin McBride with $5.5 million ? the most of any western sports athlete in history. For more information on the PBR, go to PBR.com, or follow on Facebook at Facebook.com/PBR, Twitter at Twitter.com/PBR, and YouTube at YouTube.com/PBR.

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