The Stopwatch: How Fast Bulls Win
Half of all premier-series buckoffs are over inside 3.78 seconds, and the fast ones are marked higher. What 21,822 timed buckoffs say about speed.
Nearly every buckoff in PBR's ride records carries the time the rider hit the ground. Across 13 premier-series seasons, 2014 through 2026, that's 21,822 timed buckoffs. The average comes at 4.11 seconds and the median at 3.78: half of all buckoffs are over by the time the clock reaches 3.78.
A third of premier-series buckoffs come inside 3 seconds. About one in 12 comes in the final second before the whistle.
The clock, second by second
The busiest stretch is between two and three seconds, with 24% of all buckoffs. From there the count thins out second by second, but not to nothing: 1,862 buckoffs came between seven and eight seconds.
| Buckoff time | Buckoffs | Share | Avg bull score | Marked 45+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1–2 seconds | 1,973 | 9.0% | 42.90 | 8.2% |
| 2–3 seconds | 5,235 | 24.0% | 42.95 | 7.2% |
| 3–4 seconds | 4,601 | 21.1% | 42.75 | 5.6% |
| 4–5 seconds | 3,509 | 16.1% | 42.59 | 4.8% |
| 5–6 seconds | 2,605 | 11.9% | 42.47 | 4.5% |
| 6–7 seconds | 2,037 | 9.3% | 42.23 | 4.1% |
| 7–8 seconds | 1,862 | 8.5% | 42.16 | 3.0% |
Fast gets marked higher
The quicker the buckoff, the higher the mark tends to be. Of buckoffs between one and two seconds, 8.2% were marked 45 or better; in the final second before the whistle, 3.0% were. Average bull scores slide the same way, from 42.95 in the two-to-three-second band to 42.16 in the last second. The tilt is steady but small: less than a point of average bull score from the fastest bands to the slowest.
Buckoffs also outscore rides. Premier-series buckoffs in the window averaged a 42.66 bull score; the 10,493 outs riders covered averaged 41.92.
The quickest buckoff in the window marked 46 or better belongs to Bushwacker: J.B. Mauney, 1.13 seconds, marked 46.75, on Jan 24, 2014.
The quickest bulls
Among the 254 bulls with at least 20 timed premier-series buckoffs in the window, TLW's Big Cat has the lowest average: 2.63 seconds across 32 buckoffs, 25 of them inside three seconds.
| Bull | Avg buckoff time | Timed buckoffs | Inside 3 seconds |
|---|---|---|---|
| TLW's Big Cat | 2.63s | 32 | 25 |
| WSM's Sun Country | 2.78s | 30 | 22 |
| Dennis The Menace | 2.79s | 22 | 13 |
| Honey Man | 2.82s | 24 | 17 |
| Oilfield Outlaw's Yellow Feather | 2.82s | 21 | 11 |
For buckoffs inside two seconds, no bull in the window has more than Cooper Tires Semper Fi: 18 of his 39 timed premier-series buckoffs.
Champions and the clock
The World Champion Bull title is decided on bull scores, not time, and the title seasons show both kinds of bull. Nine of the 13 title seasons in the window averaged 4.0 seconds or more per buckoff. SweetPro's Bruiser's three title seasons ran from 4.50 to 4.85. Bushwacker's 2014 title season averaged 3.09.
| Title season | Champion | Timed premier buckoffs | Avg buckoff time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Bushwacker | 14 | 3.09s |
| 2015 | Long John | 11 | 4.55s |
| 2016 | SweetPro's Bruiser | 14 | 4.60s |
| 2017 | SweetPro's Bruiser | 12 | 4.50s |
| 2018 | SweetPro's Bruiser | 8 | 4.85s |
| 2019 | Smooth Operator | 13 | 4.11s |
| 2020 | Smooth Operator | 13 | 4.12s |
| 2021 | Woopaa | 4 | 3.04s |
| 2022 | Ridin' Solo | 11 | 4.44s |
| 2023 | Ridin' Solo | 12 | 3.80s |
| 2024 | Man Hater | 8 | 3.75s |
| 2025 | Man Hater | 9 | 4.03s |
| 2026 | Ransom | 6 | 4.61s |
Some title seasons hold only a handful of timed buckoffs (Woopaa's 2021 has four), so read single seasons loosely.
Steady across the years
The league's average buckoff time has barely moved. Every season from 2014 through 2026 averaged between 3.94 seconds (2023) and 4.24 seconds (2019).
Method: PBR Data API ride records as of the September 28, 2026 sync. Premier-series buckoffs, seasons 2014 through 2026, when buckoff times are recorded consistently; the voided first out of a reride is left out. Times under one second (113 outs, 28 of them with no bull score) look like recording placeholders and are excluded, as are the few times of eight seconds or more. Bull averages need at least 20 timed buckoffs in the window.