PBR Ty Murray Invitational returns to the Pit

Bulls and riders, instead of basketballs, will be flying through the air at the Pit this weekend as the Professional Bull Riding Ty Murray Invitational comes to Albuquerque Friday, March 27, through Sunday, March 29.

Ty Murray, the name behind the invitational and co-founder of the PBR, said that along with the lineup of PBR riders, the Indian National Finals Rodeo champion will be competing.

“It’s exciting for everyone, because everyone understands the magnitude of the chance that these guys are getting,” Murray said.

“It’d be comparable to watching an NFL game, and you give the best guy from your hometown a chance to step in and see what he can do,” he said.

Murray said Cody Jesus is an example of the success an INFR champion has had with the PBR.

Murray said that competing at the invitational not only gives them experience but also pits them against the best in the world.

“When they walk into the locker room at The Pit, the 35 best guys in the world, that’s who’s sitting in the locker room,” Murray said. “And so that right there … can be a big benefit if you let it be.”

He said it is easy to get overwhelmed by the other competitors and the bulls that are 10 times stronger than they are used to, but he wants these riders to have the strength and talent to make the leap into the PBR.

Jesus was an invitee to the Ty Murray Invitational in 2016 and 2017 after winning the INFR championship. He said he was honored because he had grown up watching the event as a kid.

Jesus rose through the ranks of bull riders and is now one of PBR’s athletes. Jesus said that those first two years prepared him and showed him he needed to step up his game.

“I thought being 18, I thought I was ready for anything, but Albuquerque really opened up my eyes and matured me a little bit,” he said.

He said he learned the power of the bulls at that level and he needed to fine-tune his riding if he wanted to make it his living.

Jesus said the PBR has the very best bulls in the world.

“They’re bigger, stronger, faster, and very well taken care of,” he said.

After a few years on the circuit, he said, the advice he has for future invitees is “be the same guy that they won the (INFR) world title in Vegas a couple months ago.”

“If they just show up with that mentality and just go be themselves and ride bulls,” he said, “I think they won’t really run into any problems, and they’ll do outstanding over there.”

As the 2025 INFR Bull Riding Champion, Cole Brewer will be competing in the Ty Murray Invitational this year.

Brewer has a few PBR competitions under his belt, but this will be his first time competing in The Pit. Like Jesus, Brewer grew up watching riders in The Pit and said there were not many better venues.

Brewer grew up participating in rodeo events such as bronc riding and steer wrestling.  He began focusing on bull riding in college. He said he never could have imagined how his career would turn out and it makes him thankful.

“It’s crazy for me to look at sometimes,” he said.

Out of it all, he said it means the world to him to be representing where he came from and everyone back home. Brewer is Cheyenne River Sioux from Eagle View, South Dakota.

He said the challenge of riding a bull and the sounds of the fans keep him riding.

“It’s wild, it’s tough, it’s indescribable,” he said.

Elizabeth Secor is an arts fellow from the New Mexico Local News Fellowship program. You can reach her at esecor@abqjournal.com.