Professional Bull Riders are coming to Jacksonville: Here's what you need to know
Conner Halverson was 8 years old when the bull riding bug caught him, and he just wouldn't let go.
Even though his rides in Jacksonville this weekend, as a Professional Bull Riders competitor atop an angry animal weighing 1,500 pounds and up, are a long, long way from his boyhood at the Sheridan County Fair.
"I've had a lot of crazy experiences out there," he said in a remote interview with the Times-Union. "They're animals of their own. It's something new every day with them."
Halverson is among more than three dozen riders ready to give the First Coast a taste of the Wild West when the Professional Bull Riders' Unleash The Best series returns to VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena for two days of competition, the U.S. Border Patrol PBR on Friday and Saturday.
The opening round begins 7:45 p.m. Friday, followed by the second round and championship round on Saturday evening.
The top series last visited Jacksonville in 2021, when Cooper Davis captured the top prize.
WILD RIDE COMING TO JACKSONVILLE
Jacksonville is the latest city about to taste the feel the jolt of the eight-second ride.
The Unleash the Beast series is the premier level of the sport, including elite bull riders from both inside and outside the United States, touring a list of cities large and small.
Last week, the series stopped in Los Angeles at the Crypto.com Arena, but in the coming weeks, the Unleash the Beast riders turn toward sites closer to the sport's traditional base.
That means places like Albuquerque, New Mexico, in March; Sioux Falls, South Dakota, in April; and the ultimate destination, the PBR World Finals in the Dallas-Fort Worth area in mid-May.
WHO'S COMING TO JACKSONVILLE?
The answer: 40 riders and tens of thousands of pounds of bovine attitude.
In this sport, the bulls often become as famous as the riders, like Twisted Steel, owned by UFC president Dana White.
Currently, Cassio Dias of Brazil tops the standings with 850.83 points, ahead of a tightly-packed chase group headed by Austin Richardson, John Crimber, Eduardo Aparecido and Koltin Hevalow.
While Jacksonville won't be getting the full field of riders — as in sports like golf and tennis, not all competitors select all events — the city is still scheduled to see a pair of former PBR World Champions in Silvano Alves (2011, 2012, 2014) and Daylon Swearingen (2022).
Among those hoping to break through in Jacksonville is Halverson, a 22-year-old on the rise.
Originally from Gordon, Nebraska, Halverson began riding before many kids first take up organized competitive sports, starting at the Sheridan County Fair & Rodeo.
Pretty soon, he was building a drop barrel for practice and learning the ropes of an old-time sport in a 21st-century way, by watching instructional videos on YouTube.
Still, technology can only go so far. In PBR, either you survive eight seconds against the bull's raw power, or you don't.
"Probably the biggest challenge was to adjust to the bull's power and learning how to overcome the different levels of the bulls, especially moving from amateur to professional level," he said.
Halverson is showing he's ready to make the climb. Last year, he earned the PBR Canada rookie of the year award. While he's still awaiting his first Unleash the Beast victory, he's placed in the top 20 five times this season, highlighted by a fifth place in the first week of January at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
"They can expect the best bull riders in the world on top of the best bulls in the world," he said. "Pyro, good loud music, it's going to be a good time."
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Professional Bull Riders in Jacksonville: What you need to know
