Randy Bernard is sitting pretty behind his modest desk, which, 11 years ago, was nothing more than a card table and a folding chair.
That was when Bernard took over as Professional Bull Riders Inc.'s chief executive and only employee. There were debts of $140,000 and only $8,000 in the bank.
Today, the part-time Woodland Hills resident says the PBR is worth "somewhere between $90 [million] and $125 million."
The 20 cowboys who in 1992 put up $1,000 apiece to incorporate PBR -- a renegade offshoot of the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Assn. -- have realized a pretty profit.
Bernard says, "We might still be a niche sport, but within three years, the sports world will have to give us credit as a mainstream sport."
Whoa, boy. Has someone been thrown into the air one too many times by a 2,000-pound bull named Fat Chance?
Bernard's optimism is based on PBR's momentum, though.
According to Scarborough Data Research, bull riding was the fastest-growing spectator sport in America from 2003 to 2005 with a 48.3% increase, and also the fastest growing sport from 2004 to 2005 at 11.8%.
With 18.2 million who either watched a PBR telecast or attended an event, the organization had slightly less than half the fans of NASCAR but ranked ahead of the Indy Racing League, extreme sports and "professional wrestling."
On the same cable television network that shows NHL games, Versus, bull riding has consistently attracted more viewers than the hockey, with an average 0.4 rating to the NHL's 0.3.
"PBR is one of the cornerstones of the network," said Marc Fein, senior vice president of programming and production for Versus. "And there's still upside for potential as they start to go more mainstream."
PBR events have appeared on the Fox network twice after NFL telecasts, and drawn 2.3 and 1.6, respectively. Their final Fox telecast is Oct. 29, and could be shown between an NFL game and Game 7 of the World Series.
"I'll be very disappointed if we don't do a 2.5 at the World Finals," Bernard said.
Last summer, PBR announced it would begin its 2007 season at Madison Square Garden, and the 3,600 premium seats, priced at $125, sold out within hours.
Other developments:
* Monday, the PBR announced a new $1-million, seven-day event in February at Oklahoma City that will bump annual prize money to more than $12 million.
* Thursday, the PBR aligned itself with one of NASCAR's biggest stars, announcing the Dale Earnhardt Jr. PBR Clash in January at Charlotte, N.C.
