Bull riding has become big business for the sports' top
cowboys, who potentially can earn $1 million in prize money
and endorsements in just two seasons. It's big enough that
seven Professional Bull Riders events will be on network
television over the next nine months. And it's big enough
that longtime football agent Ralph Cindrich, whose client
Broncos quarterback Brian Griese was the highest paid NFL
player last season, is now expanding his business to include
the sport.
"There's
no doubt we're a very young NASCAR," said Randy Bernard,
chief executive officer of Professional Bull Riders Inc.,
a 10-year-old tour that's top tier, the Bud Light Cup, will
award $7.2 million in prize money in 2002.
Corporate
logos from Wrangler to Jack Daniels are prominently displayed
at venues on the 29-city tour. Professional Bull Riders
will pull in more than $10 million in sponsorships this
year, a dramatic increase from the $360,000 they collectively
earned in 1995.
And
endorsement dollars for cowboys, who wear logos on their
vests and chaps, could triple in the next year with the
increased television exposure, according to Mark Nestlen,
president of Cowboy Sports Agents, who represents 15 of
the top 50 riders on the tour. "The people at (whiskey
maker) Jim Beam have told me they're ready to increase their
spending budget five times," Nestlen said.
This
week, Nestlen will begin a partnership with Cindrich and
his staff, whose well-connected marketing agents offer important
business contacts with major corporations. Nestlen said
Cindrich also can help with licensing opportunities, which
he says are "very untapped at this point."
"I'll
admit that I didn't have a whole lot of interest at first,"
Cindrich said. "But I felt that something like this
was definitely worthwhile after doing independent research
on my own and finding that there's a lot of potential in
this business."
Cindrich
is encouraged by the amount of network TV coverage, which
he hopes could thrust the sport to the next level.
Last
year, the tour had one network appearance on NBC in late
November, which drew a relatively strong 2.2 rating despite
competing with a Washington Redskins-Philadelphia Eagles
game on CBS. The NFL game doubled the audience, still the
rating was encouraging. In October, a PBR event will follow
an NFL broadcast on CBS.
While
the PBR commands a rights fee from the Outdoor Life Network,
which will broadcast the events in all 29 cities, the organization
pays for its network programming. Despite the rating, Bernard
said last year's NBC broadcast was not profitable because
advertisers unsure how the product would look. "This
year we'll get good ratings and we'll make money,"
Bernard said.
"Network
television is going to open the door to a lot of new audiences
as well as create a lot of corporate interest from companies
that have never had any association with bull riding before,"
said Cory McFadden, a 26-year-old bull rider from Texas
and CSA client who has earned almost $250,000 on tour and
more from sponsors like Lorec Ranch, Cinch Jeans and Double-H
Boots.
Despite
the critics, who say the sport's reach is confined to cowboy
country, Bernard said he believes the tour soon will be
attracting large crowds in the top U.S. markets.
Venues
in Worchester, Mass., and Tampa, Fla., consistently pack
sellout crowds, and two years ago, PBR cowboys performed
before 10,000 people at Madison Square Garden in New York
City. This year, the PBR is aiming to sell 30,000 tickets
at both the Tacoma Dome in Washington and Georgia Dome in
Atlanta.
"Like
NASCAR, there's a perception that bull riding has its geographic
limitations, but that's not necessarily true," said
David Carter, principal of the Sports Business Group, a
sports consulting firm. "While everyone doesn't ride
a bull, this country was built by cowboys and it's arguable
that this sport is more firmly rooted in our heritage than
car racing is."
