ST. LOUIS, MO (Thursday, February 14, 2013) – The St. Louis Cardinals, The Cordish Companies and PBR (Professional Bull Riders, Inc.) announced today that PBR St. Louis: A Cowboy Bar will open at Ballpark Village making it the eighth location across the United States.

From the toughest sport on dirt comes the fastest growing country concept in the nation, PBR.  PBR St. Louis will bring an authentic country experience to Ballpark Village. PBR has agreed that this will be their only venue within the St. Louis region.

Sean Gleason, Chief Operating Officer of the PBR, stated, “PBR wants to be in world-class districts within very special cities and there is no doubt that Ballpark Village in St. Louis fits the bill.  PBR is one of the fastest growing, most exciting and popular sports in the country, selling out arenas from Madison Square Garden to Las Vegas, as well as being nationally televised.  Our goal with the PBR club was to create a concept that captures both the electricity that is PBR as well as the warm camaraderie that exists between our patrons at our events. PBR club does both and does so in spectacular fashion. We’re excited to make this announcement as the PBR returns to St. Louis this weekend with the Built Ford Tough Series at Scottrade Center.”

“We appreciate PBR’s investment in St. Louis,” said Phyllis Young, Alderwoman, 7th Ward. “PBR St. Louis promises to be a happening place that will bring a lot of boots downtown.”

The first PBR location opened its doors in 2008 at the Power & Light District in Kansas City, MO and has since launched venues in Las Vegas, NV; Baltimore, MD; Houston, TX; Hampton, VA; Philadelphia, PA; and Louisville, KY making PBR one of the hottest and fastest growing concepts in the country. Each location of PBR features its own unique high-quality design, but with shared attractions including a large dance floor, a soft-seating lounge area, private outdoor balconies, multiple bars, and the world’s meanest mechanical bull as a show-piece element to the club. PBR St. Louis takes this design to a new level and promises to be an eclectic combination of “cowboy cool” meets “urban chic,” spanning 8,000 square feet.

Additionally, PBR has started a great live music tradition in its Hot Country Night’s concert series, with past national acts including Gretchen Wilson, Luke Bryan, The Band Perry, Justin Moore, Dierks Bentley, Jason Aldean and numerous other all-star country artists. PBR St. Louis will host live performances throughout the year and is powered by a state-of-the-art sound and light system equipped for both live entertainment and dancing nightly.  PBR St. Louis will also feature an expansive beer and bourbon list as well as a southwestern inspired food menu.

“The Cordish Companies and the St. Louis Cardinals are committed to bringing best-in-class concepts to Ballpark Village and with PBR we have done just that,” said Blake Cordish, Vice President of The Cordish Companies. “We are thrilled to welcome PBR to St. Louis and we are confident that it will be an anchor attraction for years to come.”

Bill DeWitt, President of The St Louis Cardinals, stated, “PBR is a perfect addition to Ballpark Village.  We are focused on making Ballpark Village the premier entertainment destination for the region and for our fans and PBR will help us accomplish that goal.”

PBR’s announcement at Ballpark Village coincides with the return of the PBR’s elite Built Ford Tough Series to St. Louis. On Feb. 15 -17, the world’s Top 35 bull riders ride into Scottrade Center for the Cooper Tires presents  Kawasaki Invitational.  It’s the 16th time the PBR has visited St. Louis.

“St. Louis has always been a great market for the PBR,” said Gleason. “The fans are enthusiastic and the city always buzzes with excitement about the event.  We’re looking forward to our return to the Scottrade Center.”

About the Professional Bull Riders, Inc.

The PBR is the world’s premier bull riding organization. More than 100 million viewers annually watch over 400 hours of primetime PBR programming on VERSUS, NBC, CBS and networks around the world. The PBR has awarded over $100 million in prize money and 20 riders have earned over $1 million, including Justin McBride with $5.5 million – the most of any western-sports athlete in history. The PBR was nominated as 2010 Sports League of the Year at the Sports Business Journal Sports Business Awards, alongside the National Football League, National Basketball Association and Major League Baseball.  Nearly 2 million fans attend Built Ford Tough Series and Touring Pro Division events each year. For more information on the PBR, visit www.pbr.com.

St. Louis is the seventh stop of 26 across18 states for the 2013 Built Ford Tough Series.  The season culminates at the PBR Built Ford Tough World Finals in Las Vegas, October 22-27, at UNLV’s Thomas & Mack Center.  The series’ best bull riders will compete to claim the ultimate prize, the PBR World Champion’s title, $1 million dollar bonus, a new Ford truck from the series’ title sponsor, and the coveted PBR World Champion buckle.

The PBR is celebrating 20 years of competition in 2013.  Its Built Ford Tough Series is televised every week on CBS, CBS Sports Network and networks around the world. BFTS telecasts are produced for the PBR under a multi-year agreement with David Neal Productions, a Los Angeles-based production company led by 34-time Emmy® Award winner and Peabody Award winner David Neal, who serves as executive producer.

Tickets for the Kawasaki Invitational are available now at the Scottrade Center box office, online at www.ticketmaster.com or by calling (800) 745 3000.

About Ballpark Village

The construction of Ballpark Village represents the next step in the Cardinals’ vision for their investment in downtown St. Louis that began with the opening of the privately financed $411 Busch Stadium in 2006.  Ballpark Village is a mixed-use retail, entertainment, office, and residential district being developed in partnership by the St. Louis Cardinals and the Cordish Companies. Spanning seven city blocks on the 10-acre site just north of Busch Stadium, Ballpark Village will be the country’s first fully integrated mixed-use development designed to deliver the excitement and energy of the game day experience to a new neighborhood outside the stadium walls.

About The Cordish Companies

The Cordish Companies (www.cordish.com), now in its fourth generation of family ownership, is an international collection of businesses including one of the leading real estate development companies, entertainment and gaming companies in the United States. The Company has diverse development expertise with divisions focused on Entertainment & Mixed-Use, Gaming & Lodging, Sports Anchored Districts, Shopping & Lifestyle Retail, Office and Residential. The Cordish Companies also owns and manages a diverse group of operating businesses, ranging from gaming, restaurants/clubs to live music promotion and film/media distribution. The Company values itself on the quality of its operations, its long-term relationships, and high level of integrity in all of its endeavors.

The Cordish Companies is the largest and most successful developer of entertainment districts and concepts in the United States. In particular, the company has unparalleled experience in creating and revitalizing high-profile destinations in urban core locations. Many of The Cordish Companies’ projects involve public/private partnerships and are of unique significance to the cities in which they are located. Prime examples are the company’s prominent role in the redevelopment of Baltimore’s world-famous Inner Harbor; Atlantic City, NJ; Hollywood, FL; Charleston, SC; Houston, TX; Louisville, KY; Tampa, FL, Kansas City, MO; and Towson, MD.

The Cordish Companies has received the highest possible national awards in its various areas of expertise. In real estate, The Cordish Companies has received an unprecedented seven Urban Land Institute Awards of Excellence.

In July of 2010, BaseballDigest.com would announce its second affiliate site, i70baseball.com, as well as the accompanying Monday night broadcast of I-70 Baseball Radio. Since then, I-70 Baseball Radio has come to you live every Monday night at 10 p.m. Central Time with host Bill Ivie and co-host Matt Kelsey as they bring you Cardinals and Royals news. They are joined every week by writers, bloggers, and authors who are experts on the teams that the Cardinals and Royals will be playing that week.

WWPM MediaNet is exploring the third launch in a history of attempts to bring mainstream radio content to fans across the internet. A company that encompasses an internet radio station and two former over the air broadcast radio stations in Paducah, Kentucky and Burlington, Iowa.

Recently, the United Cardinal Blogger Radio Hour, a show occasionally hosted by Bill Ivie, was approached for rebroadcast rights on WWPM Media radio during the weekend time slots. Due to relationships formed by the founder of the UCB Radio Hour, Daniel Shoptaw, and Bill Ivie, the UCB Radio Hour and I-70 Baseball Radio Hour were recommended to Jake Leonard, president and CEO of WWPM Holdings Corporation.

When asked about the reach of WWPM MediaNet, Jake Leonard proudly stated “With current shows hailing from Philadelphia (PA), Chicago (IL), Memphis (TN), Hot Springs (AR), Springfield (MO & IL) and Des Moines (IA), we’re slowly gaining a national audience. We have been glad to say that in our current attempt, we have been glad to know that about 150 of our armed forces have tuned in while in Afghanistan and Iraq. To current date, we have about 8,000 listeners and that slowly increases by the day.”

Jake also talked about the growth of WWPM MediaNet and had this to say:

We intend to broadcast online longer than the past two attempts we did before. However, despite the lack thereof of advertising support and not enough budget allotted by our parent company WWPM Holdings Corporation, we are in serious need of listener support. We are a listener-supported commercial Internet station, so financial assistance for grants will be more difficult for us as compared to non-commercial Internet and AM/FM stations who are non-profit organizations. We just implemented a Members Club program that you can check out on our website at http://www.wwpmmedianet.info. We’re already in need of upgrading some equipment, including purchasing a full edition of SAM Broadcaster, which we utilize for all programming on our station.

Knowing that our markets are HUGE on baseball and sports overall, they expect that there will be programming that will satisfy their needs. First through the gate was Philadelphia’s Sickness Radio. Knowing our prior relationship on BlogTalkRadio, general manager Tommy Heinsinger was anything but reluctant at the suggestion of syndication on another radio network. No sooner I got that show arranged and scheduled, Eric Lamb from Chicago Baseball Week In Review emailed me within the debut week about being aired (which was discussed even as early as May, before the station relaunched). All of a sudden, my schedule slowly fills up, with definite appreciation from Ray Kluever from “Living With Sportz”, Daniel Shoptaw (a vital part of United Cardinal Bloggers), Vance Media Corporation (“AgriTalk: The Voice of Rural America”) and last but not least, Bill Ivie from i70baseball. With our schedule slowly filling up, WWPM MediaNet will be a force to reckoned with – it is becoming a hit on Facebook (and even though it seems unconventional, ReverbNation).

I-70 Baseball Radio, which can be heard every Monday night on BlogTalkRadio.com, is thrilled to join the WWPM MediaNet family on Tuesday evenings at 5 pm central time with a rebroadcast of our Monday Night show.

The first show will air September 7th and can be heard at WWPM MediaNet’s website by clicking here.