The Professional Bull Riders (PBR) and Bob Funk, CEO of Express Personnel Services and the owner of Express Sports and Jeff Lund the owner of the Tulsa Oilers, announced today Express Sports along with the Oilers will co-promote the first ever PBR Built Ford Tough Series (BFTS) event on July 29-31, 2005 at the Tulsa Convention Center. Express Sports signed a three-year agreement with the PBR as the local promoter of record for Tulsa, securing bull riding's top tour for Tulsa for three years.

PBR began discussions in August with Express Sports, an Oklahoma City-based sports marketing management company, along with the staff of the Central Hockey League's Tulsa Oilers, with regard to, assuming the role of promoter in Tulsa as well as other 2005 BFTS tour events. The economic impact and long-term potential for cable television was a key ingredient in formalizing the new partnership between Express Sports, the Oilers and the PBR.

Funk expressed his enthusiasm for the future of the PBR in the state of Oklahoma. "When it became clear that Tulsa had a chance to obtain the premier bull riding tour, we stepped in and agreed to co-promote the event with PBR," he stated. " The PBR is the only association which has the ability to bring the world's top bulls and bull riders to Tulsa, along with long-term national television coverage. No other bull riding organization can deliver that for the citizens of the community."

"The PBR is very excited to work with Bob Funk and Express Sports on BFTS events," said Randy Bernard, CEO of the PBR. "Tulsa has always been a great location for the minor league division of the PBR, and we are excited about the opportunity to bring the national television tour to this market."

Bernard describes Funk as a "marketing guru," who in the early 1980s borrowed money to fund what has evolved into a multi-billion dollar corporation with three divisions and a client base in six countries. The Express companies include Express Personnel Services, Express Professional Staffing and Express Business Solutions. Funk is well-known in bull riding circles as owner of Express Ranches, the third largest seedstock producer in the United States with a herd of 5,000 head of Limousin and Angus cattle, more than 20,000 acres of land, and annual sales on cattle, semen, and embryos in excess of $8.6 million.

In addition to the upcoming co-promotion of BFTS events, Funk and Express Sports own the Oklahoma City Blazers of the Central Hockey League (CHL), and the Texas Rangers Triple-affiliate Oklahoma RedHawks. Express Sports has promoted other major sporting events in Oklahoma City including Davis Cup tennis and Major League Soccer.

In Tulsa, the Oilers staff is well versed in sports marketing not only handling the teams Central Hockey League affairs but also that of the Tulsa Talons arena football team during it's first four years. Owner Jeff Lund served as vice-president of Carson Attractions, the PBR's ticket agent in Tulsa, before rebuilding the Oilers franchise in 1992. Lund also owns and operates the Oklahoma City Yard Dawgz, another arena football team.

Over 100 million viewers tune in each year to the PBR on NBC, OLN and in Spanish on Telemundo. With over 450 hours of prime time programming annually PBR ranks among the most prolific sports on air, in addition to attracting over one million live event attendees each year with its multi-tiered event structure. The PBR's founding members and governing board of directors is comprised of celebrated bull riders of the past and present who have developed bull riding into a stand alone sport which is experiencing unprecedented growth in global popularity. The PBR is headquartered in Colorado Springs, Colo., and has over 600 athletes competing in more than 100 PBR sanctioned competitions.