As the first stop of the 2016 Professional Bull Riders Built Ford Tough Series comes to a close in Chicago, Illinois there are some things that have come up that garner a bit of discussion. Along with a recap of the fantastic bull riding action there were some new rule changes that took place prior to the start of the season which we saw some of those front and center this weeked. With that being said, there was some great action on both sides, cowboy and bovine, that made the fans of the PBR take notice early on in the season!
The formation of the Executive Competitions Committee has made some rule changes to the PBR rulebook that will directly affect the contestants, in a good way, which started immediately at this weekend’s first tour stop. Two major changes revolve around the point system and bovine athlete performances. The Rodeo Round Up will break these down for you in detail so that you can understand what has happened and how it was prior to the changes taking place in 2016.
Up until this year the top five riders in each event were the only ones that were awarded any season points at each of the performances throughout the season. These golden points were what each contestant was after to make it to the PBR World Finals at the end of the year. After the ECC was formed they sat down and took a closer look at the point system and decided some changes needed to be made. We have broken down the main difference below for you to look at for yourselves.
How The Old Point System Worked
As you can see below the old point system format only awarded the top five contestants with points. It was decided that this needed to change to award the hard work of the cowboys and expand the point system distribution more widely to reward those contestants that strive to be the best and make qualified rides that electrify the thousands of fans in attendance.
How The New Point System Is Different
The new point system that started at this weekend’s Built Ford Tough Series in Chicago made each and every one of the bull riders competing very happy and put an end to a long awaited hope that they had. This point system change makes the distribution of points go from the top five qualified rides in each round and overall event to the top seven which gives the cowboys a better chance on claiming some much needed championship points throughout the year!
The other notable rule change does not really affect those competing as it was changed from a “unwritten” rule to actually being placed into the PBR rule book. This rule is simply put that if a bull does not score a minimum of 19 points during his out there will be an automatic re-ride opportunity given. This has pretty much always been the case but has never been an actual rule in the PBR.
Wallace Vieira de Oliveira Wins the 2016 PBR Chicago Invitational
Photo Credit: PBR.com & PBR Live
While PBR veteran Douglas Duncan came out on top in round one and defending World Champion J.B.Mauney won round two with a 89 point ride in Chicago it all came down to who would claim the event win and the points that came along with it. After it was all said and done it was Wallace Vieira de Oliveira who would win the Championship Round and claim the event title with 258.50 total points on three head and take home those much needed points that we talked about above.
Now that the rust has been shaken off after the winter break and the cowboys are ready to rock and roll again for another 25 tour stops across the United States our focus turns to the first “major” event of the year. Next weekend the Professional Bull Riders Built Ford Tough Series once again rolls into the Big Apple as they invade Madison Square Gardens in New York City. Keep up with everything happening throughout the year by visiting us here at the Rodeo Round Up!
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