Tom Teague

The first time Tom Teague attended a PBR event, he was captivated. He immediately saw the potential for the sport of professional bull riding. He went to meet Randy Bernard, and before they had even shaken hands, Teague was peppering the then-CEO with questions. Teague liked what he heard, and told Bernard he wanted to get involved. They became friends, and spoke on the phone often. But one day, the call was different. Bernard told Teague he had good news and bad news. The good news was that Bernard found a way for the North Carolina businessman to become a partner and stockholder in the PBR. The bad news was it was the close of business on Friday, and first thing Monday, Bernard needed $3.1 million to secure the PBR’s television rights. Teague slept on it for three nights. He recalled what happened next. “Monday morning, I told my guy, ‘Give them $3.1 million,’ and my chief financial officer said, ‘You have to be crazy, Tom.’ My partner said, ‘What in hell are you doing?’ It’s something I believed in, and it was a heck of an opportunity, and I said, ‘I really like the guy who’s running it.’ “That’s the way I got started in the PBR.”