Event & Arena News

COLUMBUS, OH - The Professional Bull Riders, Inc. (PBR) buck in to Columbus for a two-day event at Nationwide Arena on Saturday, October 15 at 8 p.m. and on Sunday, October 16 at 4 p.m. The Rocky Boots Invitational is the 30th official stop on the 2005 Built Ford Tough Series (BFTS) season tour. The event will air on the Outdoor Life Network (OLN) on Saturday, October 15 live at 8 p.m. and Sunday, October 16 tape-delayed at 8 p.m. Tickets are on sale now at the Nationwide Arena Ticket Office and through Ticketmaster.

The Rocky Boots Invitational concludes the regular season for the elite BFTS tour and provides the final opportunity for bull riders to qualify for the PBR Built Ford Tough World Finals in Las Vegas on October 28-30 and November 3-6. The Rocky Boots Invitational will feature 45 of the toughest bull riders battling the rankest bucking bulls in the industry. Topping the list of competitors are current BFTS leader Justin McBride (Elk City, Okla.), 1994 and 2001 PBR World Champion Adriano Moraes (Sao Paulo, Brazil), 2000 and 2003 PBR World Champion Chris Shivers (Jonesville, La.) and 2004 Rocky Boots Invitational winner Mike White (DeKalb, Texas).

Over 100 million viewers tune in each year to the PBR on NBC, OLN, and in Spanish on Telemundo. With over 450 hours of prime time programming annually, PBR ranks among the most prolific sports on air, in addition to attracting over one million live event attendees each year with its multi-tiered event structure which includes the marquee Built Ford Tough Series presented by Wrangler, the U.S. Smokeless Tobacco Company Challenger Tour, the Enterprise tour, and the Humps N Horns Tour, designed specifically for entry level contestants.

The PBR’s governing board of directors is comprised of renowned bull riders who have developed the event into a stand alone sport which is experiencing unprecedented growth in global popularity. The PBR is headquartered in Colorado Springs, Colo., and has over 600 athletes competing in more than 100 PBR sanctioned competitions.

Tickets are $10, $25, $50, $75 and $100 (plus $1 facility fee). Tickets may be purchased at the Nationwide Arena Ticket Office, at all Ticketmaster Ticket Centers, online at ticketmaster.com or by phone at (614) 431-3600. Tickets are also available at the Blue Jackets Zones at Chiller Dublin, Chiller Easton and Chiller North. All tickets are subject to service charges and facility fees.

For more information about upcoming events at Nationwide Arena, visit www.NationwideArena.com or call (614) 246-2000. Nationwide Arena, home of the NHL Columbus Blue Jackets and the AFL Columbus Destroyers, is an SMG-managed facility. Headquartered in Philadelphia, SMG provides facility services to more than 170 venues controlling over 1.46 million entertainment seats worldwide.