NEW YORK - The Professional Bull Riders will open its 2012 PBR Built Ford Tough Series season on Jan. 6-8 with the Madison Square Garden Invitational presented by Full Metal Jousting on HISTORY.

It is the sixth year in a row that the world's most famous arena has hosted the PBR, the world's premier bull riding organization. The nationally-televised BFTS features the best bull riders on the planet competing for the most money on the world's best bulls.

Bull riding begins at 8 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 6, and Saturday, Jan. 7, and at 1 p.m. on Sunday, Jan. 8. Tickets begin at $15, and are on sale at the Madison Square Garden box office, www.Ticketmaster.com, and by telephone at (800) 745-3000.

Fans will witness thrilling 8-second rides and jaw-dropping wrecks as the PBR's insanely brave cowboys risk it all against monstrous animal athletes that can weigh as much as 2,000 pounds.

Each of the Top 40 bull riders in the world will ride on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Following Round 2 on Saturday, the riders with the 10 highest cumulative scores will each compete with one more bull in an exclusive short round. Following Round 4 on Sunday, the riders with the 10 highest cumulative scores overall 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.

Round 1 of the Madison Square Garden Invitational presented by Full Metal Jousting on HISTORY will be live streamed on YouTube on Friday at 8 p.m. ET. Saturday's Round 2 will be shown on the CBS Sports Network at 11 p.m. ET, and Sunday's Round 4 and Built Ford Tough Championship Round will be broadcast at 2:30 p.m. ET on NBC.

Valdiron de Oliveira returns to the scene of his 2008 and 2011 triumphs.

The field in New York features six PBR World Champions - Silvano Alves (2011), Renato Nunes (2010), Kody Lostroh (2009), Guilherme Marchi (2008), Mike Lee (2004), and Chris Shivers (2000 and 2003). Also competing will be J.B. Mauney and Valdiron de Oliveira, who have each won the event in New York twice. Oliveira is the defending champion, and also won in 2008, while Mauney won the inaugural event in 2007, and became the first two-time winner in 2009.

There will be a live jousting demonstration during intermission on Saturday, Jan. 7. The exhibition will have two experienced jousters taking three to five passes at each other in an attempt to de-horse their opponents. Hosted by renowned jouster Shane Adams, Full Metal Jousting will premiere on HISTORY on Sunday, Feb. 12 at 10 p.m. In addition, intermission each night will feature "Mutton' Bustin'," with brave kids riding speedy sheep.

New York is the first stop for the BFTS, which will make 29 stops in 23 states before the Built Ford Tough World Finals in Las Vegas on Oct. 24-28, 2012. The World Finals are where the PBR World Champion will be crowned and awarded the coveted championship buckle and a $1 million bonus. The richest bull riding event in the world, the World Finals has a total purse of more than $2 million.

The PBR World Champion is determined by the most Built Ford Tough Series points earned throughout the season and at the World Finals. There are 1,400 possible BFTS points available in New York, as the winner of the event will receive 400 points and each of the five round wins is worth 100 points plus the ride score.

The BFTS is televised every week on CBS, CBS Sports Network, NBC, NBC Sports Network, and YouTube. BFTS 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.