Boston’s TD Garden to host ‘intense, crazy’ Professional Bull Riders: ‘Best in the world’

Get ready for a lot of yeehawing and cowboy hats in Boston.

Country world has taken over the TD Garden in the past with concerts, but it has yet to host this type of Western experience: The best bull riders taking to the floor on top of the craziest bulls in the world in front of 10,000-plus fans.

The Professional Bull Riders will be making its debut at the Garden in early January, and the commissioner says he is more than confident that both nights will be sold out.

We expect this to be the first of many years in Boston, Commissioner and CEO Sean Gleason told the Herald in a phone interview.

We will come in and prove that there is, in fact, demand for cowboys and bull riders in the city of Boston and plan to bring it back and make it a regular part of the tour.

Limited sales for the two-night event on Jan.

2 and 3 began on Saturday and will last until Tuesday, before other special packages go on the market on Wednesday.

General tickets will be available starting Sept.

9, all via Ticketmaster.

Beginning in 1992, PBR has always tried to bring its tour to the TD Garden but has routinely faced scheduling conflicts with the Bruins and Celtics during the NHL and NBA seasons, respectively.

Finally, the stars aligned, Gleason said.

Gleason, who took over as CEO in 2015, expects that the two-night event will bring in $4 to $6 million for the Boston economy.

The organization has visited Manchester, N.H.; Bangor, Maine; and Worcester over the years, with the spectacle drawing hordes of fans typically from within a 200-mile radius.

PBR has sold out on Saturday nights in even bigger cities, including at Madison Square Garden, many times.

Last year, an entire three-day event sold out for the first time in 17 years in New York City.

The TD Garden will be transformed into an arena full of dirt and bucking chutes where roughly 12,000 to 13,000 fans can expect to witness 45 to 60 bucking bulls each night, depending on the competition and the flow of the event.

Each event will last about 2.5 hours.

To qualify, rides must last eight seconds.

Judges will then consider how difficult the ride was and how in control the riders were.

At the core are the best bull riders in the world, bar none, against the best bucking bulls on the planet.

Thats our promise to every fan, Gleason said.

Theyre going to get to see the best in the world, not just some crazy guys getting on bulls.

PBR brings this intense, crazy, wild western sport, he added, but we wrap it in a rock concert environment.

It is very entertaining.

Fans in Boston will be watching the individual competition part of the tour, which runs from December through May.

The individual season wraps up in mid-May for the World Finals.

The champion bull rider earns a gold buckle and $1 million bonus.

Gleason said the 18-to-34 age demographic consistently ranks as the largest in PBRs television ratings and event ticket sales.

Its inherent in the fact that bull riding, western lifestyle, cowboy culture have been such a big part of the makeup of the fabric of America for so long, he said.

I dont think its lost everywhere.

Some people dont have exposure to it on a day-in, day-out basis, but there is still a fascination with the West and cowboy sports.

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