Bull Riding, Sport of the Future

Data research shows it is the fastest-growing spectator sport in the U.S. from 2003 to 2005.

Randy Bernard is sitting pretty behind his modest desk, which, 11 years ago, was nothing more than a card table and a folding chair.

That was when Bernard took over as Professional Bull Riders Inc.'s chief executive and only employee. There were debts of $140,000 and only $8,000 in the bank.

Today, the part-time Woodland Hills resident says the PBR is worth "somewhere between $90 [million] and $125 million."

The 20 cowboys who in 1992 put up $1,000 apiece to incorporate PBR — a renegade offshoot of the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Assn. — have realized a pretty profit.

Bernard says, "We might still be a niche sport, but within three years, the sports world will have to give us credit as a mainstream sport."

Bucking For Dollars- The Winner of the PBR World Finals Takes Home a Cool Million

Mike Dojc

Wed Nov 1

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