Eight seconds and a dream for Bull Riders' investors

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Professional bull riding, an extreme sport that bills itself as a cross between a NASCAR auto race and a rock concert, has moved from the country to the big city -- and attracting big money along the way.

More than 1.6 million fans last year flocked to these competitions, during which a lineup made up of mostly wiry, 150-pound men, struggle for up to eight seconds to stay astride bad-tempered, 2,000-pound bulls with names like "Scene of the Crash" and "Chicken on a Chain," that want nothing more than to throw them off and stomp them into submission.

Celebrating its 15th season by hauling dirt into New York City's Madison Square Garden for a competition this weekend, Professional Bull Riders Inc (PBR) has come a long way from its start when 20 bull riders chipped in $1,000 apiece so their sport could break away from its rodeo roots.

Boasting expected 2008 sales growth of 25 percent and cash flow rising about 30 percent, it is no wonder New York private equity firm Spire Capital Partners invested almost $100 million in PBR in April 2007 to buy a controlling two-thirds stake.

It's an odd fit for Spire, whose $700 million portfolio includes a radio broadcasting company and SkyMall Inc, a publishing company known for its airline catalogs.

"You would not think of it off the top of your head," Spire partner Rick Patterson said. "It can grow very nicely.

"We certainly don't see a flip here. I would say this will be a 5- to 10-year hold for us," he added.

The mostly young riders' purses have also increased as the PBR champion in 1995 earned about $150,000, while last year's winner, Justin McBride, 28, won $1.8 million.

GROWING PAST ITS ROOTS

As part of its growth plans, PBR has left behind its days as a segment of the rodeo.

"We're not rodeo because we're so different. We're closer to a cross between a Rolling Stones concert and a NASCAR race," PBR Chief Executive Randy Bernard said of 2-1/2 hour events that include fireworks, musicians and U.S. Army soldiers rappelling from the rafters.

The rules of the sport are simple: A rider, using one hand, tries to stay mounted on a bull for at least eight seconds, while the animal bucks, spins and kicks in an effort to throw him. The rider is then scored on a 100-point scale based on his performance and the bull's difficulty.

The action, during which an athlete is injured once every 15 rides, has proven to be an attractive lure for the Pueblo, Colorado-based sport's 22 sponsors -- including VF Corp's Wrangler jeans, UST Inc's Copenhagen smokeless tobacco and automaker Ford Motor Co -- as well as its main broadcast partner, Comcast Corp's Versus network.

Karl Stressman, Wrangler's director of special events and licensing, sees more growth ahead for PBR.

"(This) opens a new opportunity to us to introduce our product to somebody that may have two pairs of Wrangler jeans in their closet as opposed to 14 or 15 pairs," he said.

Versus President Gavin Harvey said bull riding's crossover appeal suits the cable network's growth strategy.

"We're a country that's dominated by stick-and-ball sports, but there's a lot of room," he said. "The PBR is a legitimate A-list competition. It is a tent-pole property for us."

The network airs the sport from January through early November, and News Corp's Fox and General Electric Co's NBC also televise select events. PBR has tours in the United States, Brazil, Mexico, Australia and Canada.

Spire has so much faith in the sport's 19-million fan base (40 percent of whom are women) it is reinvesting all its profits. Many fans actively cheer on the bulls and animal merchandise outsold rider gear 4-to-1 in 2007.

BUILDING A BASE

However, pro bull riding has its limitations. The same eight-second rides that make PBR among YouTube's most popular Internet channels during the sport's November finals, can also seem monotonous to casual fans, analysts said.

"After a dozen trips to the arena and a dozen times watching it on TV, interest for the traditional sports fan tends to lag," said Josh Peter, author of "Fried Twinkies, Buckle Bunnies, & Bull Riders: A Year Inside the Professional Bull Riders Tour."

The sport also loses fans due to its long season, analysts said. During the summer fewer competitions are held and interests wanes.

To meet these concerns, the PBR is considering trimming its season to 18 consecutive weeks from January through May, to help build a sense of urgency and fan awareness, Bernard said.

"There are a lot of casual fans who have never seen it, so I think there's more good exposure to come," said Mike Cramer, a professor of sports management at New York University.

"I like their prospects," said Cramer, the former president of Southwest Sports Group, which owns the Texas Rangers baseball team, Dallas Stars hockey club and Mesquite Championship Rodeo in Texas. "But, I don't think that they can ever be a NASCAR."

(Editing by Maureen Bavdek)