COLUMBUS, Ohio - For the 14th consecutive year, the Professional Bull Riders elite Built Ford Tough Series will return to Columbus, Ohio, for the Cooper Tires Invitational. The Top 40 bull riders in the world will take on the toughest bulls the PBR has to offer for two nights of the best bull riding on earth. The Cooper Tires Invitational will take over Nationwide Arena on Friday, Oct. 14, at 8 p.m., and Saturday, Oct. 15, at 7 p.m. Tickets are on sale now and can be purchased online at www.Ticketmaster.com, at the Nationwide Arena box office, or by telephone at (800) 745-3000.

Scheduled to compete at the final event of the 2011 season before the PBR Built Ford Tough World Finals are current No. 1 in the world and 2010 Rookie of the Year Silvano Alves, North Carolina great J.B. Mauney, and 2011 Last Cowboy Standing winner Luke Snyder. Also expected in Columbus are young riders Stormy Wing and Cherokee Kid Ryan Dirteater as well as Canadians Aaron Roy, Dusty Ephrom, and Tyler Thomson, and fan-favorite Austin Meier, who is currently ranked fourth in the BFTS standings.

Bull riding at Nationwide Arena begins at 8 p.m. on Friday, and at 7 p.m. on Saturday. Each of the 40 riders will ride on both days. Following Round 1 on Friday, the riders with the 10 highest scores will each compete with one more bull. Following Round 3 on Saturday, the riders with the 12 highest cumulative scores will advance to the Built Ford Tough Championship Round, where they will each compete with one more bull. The overall event winner will be the rider with the highest combined score from all four rounds. 

Also in Columbus, in honor of breast cancer awareness month, the PBR will be participating in a variety of programs, including the Ford Trucks Warriors in Pink program and the Wrangler "Tough Enough to Wear Pink" campaign. At each Built Ford Tough Series event in October - Charlotte, N.C.; Hartford, Conn.; and Columbus - the Saturday-night performance will be a designated Breast Cancer Awareness night, with all fans, staff and athletes at the event encouraged to wear pink.

PBR fans attending any of the BFTS events in October can purchase an exclusive PBR Wrangler "Tough Enough To Wear Pink" adult T-shirt for $15 or a youth T-shirt for $10. These commemorative shirts can only be found at the Built Ford Tough Series events during the month of October. Half of the proceeds from all pink-shirt sales will benefit the Cancer Research Foundation. For more information about the "Wrangler Tough Enough to Wear Pink" nights, please visit http://pbr.com/release/?id=7783. For other ideas for helping find a cure for cancer, please visit www.Fordcares.com.

On Saturday, Oct. 15, Cooper Tires will host "Coffee with a Cowboy" from 9-10 a.m. at the Renaissance Columbus Downtown, 50 North 3rd Street, Cooper Tires rider Dirteater and official PBR entertainer Flint Rasmussen will be telling stories of their lives on the road, and will be available for autographs and photographs.

Fans who purchase a Rasmussen jersey at the event on Saturday will be able to get it autographed by the popular entertainer immediately following the event at a table adjacent to the main merchandise booth.

The action from Columbus will be aired on VERSUS starting at 11:30 p.m. ET on Saturday, and at 3 p.m. ET or 5 p.m. ET on CBS, either immediately before or immediately following regularly-scheduled NFL games (Check local listings for details). The one-hour CBS broadcast will include a special 12-rider Built Ford Tough Championship Round, as well as features and highlights.

Play-by-play broadcaster Craig Hummer will be joined by nine-time World Champion and PBR co-founder Ty Murray, who will provide color commentary, and Leah Garcia, who will be doing dirt-level interviews. Built Ford Tough Series telecasts are produced for the PBR by David Neal Productions, a Los Angeles-based production company led by 34-time Emmy® Award winner and Peabody Award winner David Neal, who serves as executive producer and creative lead.

The nationally televised BFTS makes 29 stops in 23 states. The season began at world-famous Madison Square Garden, and culminates Oct. 26-30 in Las Vegas at the richest bull riding event in the world, the PBR Built Ford Tough World Finals. The Finals is where the 2011 PBR World Champion will be crowned and awarded the $1 million Built Ford Tough bonus.