See How Bull Riding Is Becoming a Mainstream Sport

2 minute read
Michael Lane riding Fruit Loop at the Tucson Convention Center, Tucson, Arizona, Saturday, October 3, 2015Thomas Prior for TIME
By Caroline Smith, Sean Gregory and Olivier Laurent

Inside a tight steel chute on a late-September night, Sunshine–1,450 lb. of ironically named aggression–is thrashing and fuming with everything he’s got. He rams his thick horns against the gate, desperate to get out into the ring. Finally it opens, and Sunshine darts into the dirt arena. The bull bucks and heaves while the 165-lb. cowboy on his back tries desperately to hold on. Douglas Duncan needs to stick it out for just eight seconds to score points, but Sunshine won’t cooperate: he ditches Duncan in three and then bounces around the ring in a dirt-kicking victory lap.

The crowd erupts, hooting and hollering like seasoned fans, writes Sean Gregory. Yet this scene was playing out not in Oklahoma, Texas or any of rodeo’s other traditional hotbeds but inside a hockey arena in Allentown, Pa., some 50 miles north of Philadelphia. At this stop on the Professional Bull Riders (PBR) Built Ford Tough Series, the seats were filled not only with machinists in cowboy hats but also soccer moms, suit-wearing businessmen and 20-somethings dressed for a night on the town.

Bull riding has become an attractive sport for Hollywood heavyweights and talent agencies. In April, WME/IMG, a sports-and-entertainment agency known for marketing stars like Oprah Winfrey and Ben Affleck, purchased PBR from a private-equity firm for around $120 million.

To photograph the story, TIME’s photo editors turned to Thomas Prior, a portrait and documentary photography with a particular interest for all kind of intense sports – bull riding being one of them. “I’m interested in the brutal nature of it,” he says. “You have eight seconds. You have this one ride to make it to the next round and you might get thrown off in half a second, you might get injured or you might make it. It’s just intense.”

Photographing at Tucson, Arizona, Prior remembers having the shakes “when you’re watching the guy adjust his hand,” he says. “I just like the dynamic nature of it, visually.”

Read Sean Gregory’s full article, Why Hollywood Is Bullish on Bull Riding, on TIME.com.

Caroline Smith, who edited this photo essay, is a special projects editor at TIME.

Olivier Laurent is the editor of TIME LightBox. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram @olivierclaurent

Bull rider Douglas Duncan preparing before his ride on Friday Oct 2nd at the Tucson Convention Center in Tucson, AZThomas Prior for TIME
A bull waits his turn in the back pens on Friday Oct 2nd at the Tucson Convention Center in Tucson, AZ (this bull is unidentified, with no brand or ear tag.)Thomas Prior for TIME
A rider gets a strained ligament checked out by Dr. Tandy Freeman on Saturday Oct 3rd at the Tucson Convention Center in Tucson, AZThomas Prior for TIME
Bullrider Luis Blanco being introduced to the crowd at the Tucson Convention Center, Tucson, Arizona, Saturday, October, 3Thomas Prior for TIME
Bull rider Tyler Harr checks his various wraps and braces before competing on Sat Oct 3rd at the Tucson Convention Center in Tucson, AZThomas Prior for TIME
Michael Lane riding Fruit Loop at the Tucson Convention Center, Tucson, Arizona, Saturday, October 3, 2015Thomas Prior for TIME
Alexander Cardozo in the chute getting ready for his ride on Saturday Oct 3rd at the Tucson Convention Center in Tucson, AZThomas Prior for TIME
Alexander Cardozo during one his rides on Sat Oct 3rd at the Tucson Convention Center in Tucson, AZThomas Prior for TIME
The crowd at the Tucson Convention Center, Tucson, Arizona, Saturday, October, 3Thomas Prior for TIME
Three Bullfighters keep tabs on Bullrider Stormy wing at the Tucson Convention Center, Tucson, Arizona, Saturday, October, 3Thomas Prior for TIME
One of the merchandise tables at the Tucson Convention Center Thomas Prior for TIME
Merchandise sits in its box waiting to be unpacked before the event on Sat Oct 3rd at the Tucson Convention Center in Tucson, AZThomas Prior for TIME
Rubens Barbosa signing autographs after the nights ride. Tucson Convention Center, Tucson, Arizona, Saturday, October, 3Thomas Prior for TIME

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Write to Sean Gregory at sean.gregory@time.com