PBR World Finals Will Bring World’s Greatest Bull Riding Athletes to North Texas This May

It’s been more than three decades since Cody Lambert and a group of riders launched Professional Bull Riders, transforming it from a grassroots movement into an international league with millions of fans and a global roster of elite athletes.

“We wanted an elite league,” Lambert tells PaperCity of those early years. “We wanted a set of rules that guaranteed the best rider would get paid the most, that it didn’t matter what was on your resume or what you had done prior.”

Lambert remains one of the most respected figures in the sport. Now the head coach of Fort Worth-based Ariat Texas Rattlers, he leads a global roster of top-tier bull riders preparing to compete on the biggest stage — the 2025 PBR World Finals. The PBR Finals are the crown jewel of professional bull riding and bring top riders and bulls from around the world to Fort Worth and Arlington for 11 days of high-stakes competition that opens at Cowtown Coliseum and closes at AT&T Stadium. With a record $3.26 million on the line, the Finals will crown the sport’s world champion following a three-stage format: Eliminations, Ride For Redemption, and the Championship.

In 2021, PBR introduced a new team-based format, shifting the sport from its traditional individual focus to a dynamic 5-on-5 competition. The current Texas Rattlers roster boasts some of the biggest names in the sport, including Australians Brady Fielder and Callum Miller and Texas native Daniel Keeping. Lambert saves this advice for anyone wanting to get into the dangerous and high-stakes sport.

“You have to love what you are doing,” he says. “As dangerous as it is, there’s no reason for anyone to talk you into riding a bull if you are not interested in it, especially when you choose a sport where you could get hurt or die. You are going to lose. There’s going to be pain. It’s not for everyone, and it’s not supposed to be for everyone.

Grit Meets Preparation

Bull riding is unlike any other sport. The skillsets for a successful ride, Lambert says, require the agility of a gymnast or wide receiver coupled with the brutal strength of a boxer and wrestler at times. Balance, core strength, flexibility, and speed are all needed for a successful ride.

In this world, bigger and stronger won’t work, Lambert says, adding that stronger and faster will work. When his team gathers at Dickies Arena — their official home arena — to train, the level and type of training teammates undergo depends on their needs, age, and whether or not they are recovering from an injury. Time in the practice pen with a bull is precious and dangerous. Mental practice, stretching, speed and reaction training, and various types of cross-training keep the Texas Rattlers in peak physical shape.

“You’ll never be stronger than a 1,800-pound bull,” Lambert says. “You have to be able to control your body weight. You have to be strong. Sometimes, for a split second, you need super-human strength — everything you’ve got and a little bit more.”

What to Watch: May 8 through 18

The competition kicks off with Eliminations (May 8 through 11) and Ride For Redemption (May 14 through 15) at Cowtown Coliseum, where riders vie for a spot in the Championship. On May 16, AT&T Stadium hosts Kid Rock’s Rock N Rodeo, a high-energy, team-formatted rodeo event featuring a live concert. The Finals culminate with the Championship rounds on May 17 through 18, where the 2025 PBR World Champion will be crowned.

In professional bull riding, each ride is scored out of 100 points — half for the rider and half for the bull. A rider’s final score depends heavily on the bull’s performance. The more difficult the bull is to ride, the higher the scoring potential. Even a flawless ride won’t score high if the bull’s effort lacks intensity or difficulty. Each rider is randomly assigned a bull from a qualified pool, making the draw a critical factor in their overall success. Bulls are scored based on how forcefully they kick, jump, and spin, among other factors.

“Riders are judged on control and balance,” Lambert says. “They have to ride for eight seconds. They don’t get anything if they don’t keep one hand in the air or if they touch themselves or the bull with a free hand. The goal is to maintain full body control, posture, and balance, no matter what that bull does. If you dominate him, you can show the judges that you have full control.”

Lambert says there’s still plenty of room for PBR events to grow. The coach says he and the other co-founders created PBR to improve the sport and leave it in a better place than they found it. Today, he tells the current generation of bull riding athletes that he’s living his dream through them.

“The guys who started this sport wanted what we have today,” he says, “to see greatness and see the best riders rewarded for greatness.”