PBR Canada’s Monster Energy Tour Visits Abbotsford for Fifth Consecutive Season on October 17

ABBOTSFORD, British Columbia – For the fifth consecutive season, PBR (Professional Bull Riders) Canada’s elite Monster Energy Tour will buck into Abbotsford, British Columbia with the Abbotsford Classic, on Saturday, October 17, at the Abbotsford Centre.

The Monster Energy Tour regularly features Canada’s best riders alongside some of the league’s top international athletes, squaring off against the rankest bucking bulls from across the nation. Fans will witness exhilarating 8-second rides and wrecks throughout the action-packed event as the PBR’s courageous bull-riding athletes face off against their 2,000-pound opponents.

In the tour’s tenure, Abbotsford is the lone city to welcome the Monster Energy Tour in each of its five years of operation. Each stop in the British Columbia city played a crucial role in shaping the national title race.

In 2019, Garret Green (Meeting Creek, Alberta) went a flawless 2-for-2 to win his career-first Canadian Monster Energy Tour event in Abbotsford. His 84.5-point ride on Mogely (X6 Ranch Bucking Cattle), and 87.5-point trip on OMB Legal Issues (Wilson Rodeo) earned a massive 530 Canadian national points and propelled him to No. 7 in the nation.

The event was also a crucial stepping stone in Brock Radford’s (De Winton, Alberta) return from injury. Sidelined the entirety of the first half as he recovered from knee surgery, the Albertan finished second to rise to No. 6 in the nation and become a contender for the year’s national championship.

Jared Parsonage (Maple Creek, Saskatchewan), the 2018 event winner, also recorded a crucial Top 5 finish at the 2019 Abbotsford Classic to hone in on the nation’s No. 1 ranking. While he remained No. 2 in Canada following the event, he decimated then No. 1 Dakota Buttar’s (Kindersley, Saskatchewan) lead from 122.51 to 42.51 points.

Following the Abbotsford event, what was one of the most intense national title races in league history, continued to unfold as the world’s best battled it out to be crowned the 2019 PBR Canada Champion.

While Parsonage and Buttar entered the season-culminating PBR Canada Finals ranked No. 1 and No. 2 in the nation, within a slim 32.49 points of one another, a dominant performance by young gun Daylon Swearingen (Piffard, New York) allowed him to complete one of the most riveting come-from-behind surges in history.

Swearingen had entered the event No. 4. He went a perfect 4-for-4 to win the Canadian Finals and erase a 689.57-point gap to emerge the 2019 PBR Canada Champion by 450.42 points over runner-up Buttar.

In the bull pen, the sport’s bovine athletes were also embattled in a feverish race to be crowned the 2019 PBR Canada Bull of the Year.

Entering the event No. 1 in the nation with a 0.4-point lead, Homegrown from Coronation, Alberta’s Eno Bucking Bulls, was able to hold off a hard-bucking Happy Camper from Magrath, Alberta’s Two Bit Bucking Bulls to capture the season’s end honor by a slim 0.083 points.

The bull riding action begins at 7:00 p.m. PT on Saturday, October 17 at the Abbotsford Centre. All riders will attempt one bull each in Round 1 on Saturday. The Top 10 will then advance to the championship round later that evening for one more out and a chance at the event title. In addition to competing for points towards the Canadian national standings, riders will also vie for crucial points towards the World Finals.

Tickets for the Abbotsford Classic go on sale Friday, January 24. They range in price from $25 to $100, and can be purchased online at Ticketmaster.ca or at the Abbotsford Centre box office.

The 2020 slate of events marks the fifth season for the Monster Energy Tour as a unified competitive series traveling across the country. After visiting the likes of Calgary, Alberta, Ottawa and Abbotsford, British Columbia, the season will culminate in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan for the 2020 PBR Canada Finals.