The Big Apple has gone country. On Friday, the Professional Bull Riders (PBR) “Unleash the Beast” arrives at Madison Square Garden for a three-day run. The New York City audience will be bigger than ever.
When the bonanza first came to MSG 17 years ago, they handed out tickets for free on Seventh Avenue. Last year, the event sold some 39,000 tickets, and ticket sales are pacing 15% ahead, according to PBR. Flint Rasmussen, PBR’s Senior Vice President of Fan Engagement, calls it the “Yellowstone Effect.
” “It’s a real thing as far as generating revenue in our business,” he told The Post. The popularity of PBR comes as New Yorkers are increasingly embracing cowboy culture, celebrating Beyonce’s country western turn with her latest album, donning Stetsons and boots to hit up a growing number of honky tonks in the city and catching Bella Hadid in the saddle on the streets of the Meatpacking District. The 28-year-old supermodel and her cowboy boyfriend, Adan Bañuelos, 35, did a cutting horse demonstration last September to close out Fashion Week.
“Now every model wants a cowboy for a boyfriend,” quipped Chris Reda, the co-owner of Common Country, a new bar in Kips Bay infused with southern flair. The 3,400-square-foot venue features deer taxidermy, farmhouse beams imported from Kentucky, live bands, line dancing and a soundtrack of country and country-house music . Reda, a 40-something native New Yorker who worked at some of NYC’s biggest nightclubs of the.
