Last Cowboy Standing hits Las Vegas May 22-23 at MGM Resorts Village during first-ever Cowboy Spring Break
The Professional Bull Riders (PBR) Built Ford Tough Series (BFTS) will make its first of two stops in Las Vegas during the 2015 season on Friday, May 22, and Saturday, May 23, when the MGM Resorts Village hosts Last Cowboy Standing.
The second PBR Major event this year, Last Cowboy Standing will offer an increased purse and 1.5 times the world points of all other regular-season BFTS events. Up from $170,000 in 2014, the total prize purse this year is $250,000, with the winner receiving a guaranteed $180,000, including the $100,000 Bad Boy Mowers Bonus.
The format is as follows: the Top 50 bull riders in the world – thhe largest field on the BFTS – will tackle the rankest bucking bullss in the industry, striving to make the 8-second buzzer. If a rider stays on his bull for the required 8 seconds, he continues to compete. If he gets bucked off, he is finished. The cowboys will continue to ride until the end of the night – up to a max of five rounds – when the “Last Cowboy Standing” will be declared the winner.
Last year, PBR fans watched as 2008 PBR World Champion Guilherme Marchi claimed the 2014 Last Cowboy Standing title with the high-marked ride of the event, 89.5 points on Rango (Jeff Robinson Bucking Bulls). Marchi took home $100,000 and regained the No. 1 spot in the PBR world standings at the time of his victory.
Marchi will return to Las Vegas this year to defend his title, alongside two other PBR World Champions including J.B. Mauney (2013) and Mike Lee (2004).
Also expected to compete are Nevada native Markus Mariluch, 2014 PBR Rookie of the Year J.W. Harris, fan favorites Ryan Dirteater, Douglas Duncan, Matt Triplett and Reese Cates, as well as current rookies Kaique Pacheco and Bonner Bolton.
Last Cowboy Standing is the headlining event of the PBR’s three-day Cowboy Spring Break celebration, which kicks off Memorial Day weekend on Friday, May 22, and runs through Sunday, May 24. Surrounded by concerts, pools, water entertainment, volleyball fun, VIP parties and more, Last Cowboy Standing is the central activity taking place within the Monster Energy Cowboy Festival, located in MGM Resorts Village.
Tickets for Last Cowboy Standing are on sale now and can be purchased at all MGM Resorts ticket offices or concierge desks, all Ticketmaster locations or on-site at the MGM Resorts Village on the day of the event. The event is open to guests of all ages, but anyone under 16 must be accompanied by an adult.
Tickets also can be purchased at ticketmaster.com or via phone at (800) 745-3000. A single day of concerts, excitement and the Last Cowboy Standing event is $50 for general admission seats. Exclusive, three-day ticket packages for Cowboy Spring Break, including reserved seating and VIP reserved seating at the Last Cowboy Standing are available for $299 and $449, respectively. Three-day general admission packages also are available for $99.
Special hotel room rates are available at 12 MGM Resorts International destinations and can be booked at resweb.passkey.com/go/EPBRSPRING. For more information about Cowboy Spring Break, visit www.cowboyspringbreak.com.
Last Cowboy Standing is the last stop of the first half of the 2015 PBR Built Ford Tough Series. The season will conclude at the PBR Built Ford Tough World Finals in Las Vegas on Oct. 21-25 when the 2015 PBR World Champion, the bull rider who earns the most points during the 2015 season, will be crowned and receive the coveted World Championship belt buckle and a $1 million bonus.
The BFTS is televised every week on CBS, CBS Sports Network and networks around the world. CBS Sports Network will broadcast Round 1 live on Friday and 11 p.m. ET. The final rounds of Last Cowboy Standing will be the sixth consecutive PBR BFTS event to air on CBS Television Network and will be a two-hour broadcast on Sunday, May 24, at 1 p.m. ET.
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.