PBR Team Series

PBR Team Series
Current season, competition or edition:
Current sports event 2026 PBR Team Series season
FormerlyPBR Camping World Team Series (2023–2025)
AssociationProfessional Bull Riders
SportBull riding
FoundedNovember 5, 2021; 4 years ago (2021-11-05)
First season2022
CommissionerSean Gleason
No. of teams10
CountryUnited States
HeadquartersFort Worth, Texas, U.S.
Most recent
champion
Carolina Cowboys
(2025)
BroadcastersCBS Sports
The CW
Streaming partnerParamount+
SponsorCamping World (2023–2025)

The PBR Teams Series, also known as PBR Teams, is a professional bull riding team competition organized by Professional Bull Riders (PBR). The series was established in 2021 and held its inaugural season in 2022, introducing a team-based format to professional bull riding in which riders compete as members of franchises representing cities and regions across the United States.

The PBR Teams Series was initially contested by eight teams in 2022 and has since expanded to ten teams. The competition features both regular-season homestands and neutral-site events, with teams competing in head-to-head matchups. The championship is determined through a postseason tournament featuring a progressive-elimination format. The Carolina Cowboys are the reigning champions, having won the 2025 championship.

Camping World was the title sponsor of the PBR Team Series from 2023 to 2025. During that time the series was knows as the PBR Camping World Team Series.

History

On November 5, 2021, Professional Bull Riders (PBR) announced the creation of the PBR Team Series, a new team-based league designed to complement the organization's individual Unleash the Beast Series. The inaugural season was scheduled to begin in June 2022 and feature eight founding teams competing in a 10-weekend regular season followed by a team playoff and championship. Each team was to be based in a designated home market and host an annual bull riding event, while two additional events were planned at neutral sites. The league's teams, ownership groups, and home markets were to be announced in early 2022. On November 6, the PBR announced that T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, would host the inaugural PBR Team Series playoffs and championship. The championship was scheduled for November 4–6, 2022, and would determine the first PBR Team Series champion.

On January 6, 2022, the founding eight members were announced: the Ariat Texas Rattlers based in Fort Worth, Texas; the Arizona Ridge Riders based in Glendale, Arizona; the Austin Gamblers based in Austin, Texas; the Carolina Chaos based in Winston-Salem, North Carolina; the Kansas City Outlaws based in Kansas City, Missouri; the Missouri Thunder based in Ridgedale, Missouri; the Nashville Stampede based in Nashville, Tennessee; and the Oklahoma Freedom based in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. On January 7, a draft lottery was held in New York City to determine the inaugural draft order. On March 15, the Carolina Chaos were renamed to the Carolina Cowboys.

On March 4, 2022, the PBR announced the inaugural season's event schedule. It included eight homestands, two neutral site events, and the PBR Team Series Finals.

On July 19, 2023, it was announced that the PBR and Camping World signed a multi-year deal to be the title sponsor of the PBR Team Series.

Teams

PBR Team Series is located in the United States
Ridge Riders
Ridge Riders
Gamblers
Gamblers
Cowboys
Cowboys
Freedom
Freedom
Outlaws
Outlaws
Thunder
Thunder
Stampede
Stampede
Mavericks
Mavericks
Wildcatters
Wildcatters
Rattlers
Rattlers
Current PBR Team Series team locations (founding teams in red; expansion teams in blue).
TeamCityArenaFirst
season
OwnerGeneral
manager
Head
coach
Ariat Texas Rattlers Fort Worth, Texas Dickies Arena 2022 John Fisher Chad Blankenship Cody Lambert
Arizona Ridge Riders Glendale, Arizona Desert Diamond Arena 2022 Thomas Tull Casey Lane Colby Yates
Austin Gamblers Austin, Texas Moody Center 2022 Egon Durban JJ Gottsch Michael Gaffney
Carolina Cowboys Greensboro, North Carolina First Horizon Coliseum 2022 Richard Childress and Jeff Broin Austin Dillon Jerome Davis
Florida Freedom Sunrise, Florida Amerant Bank Arena 2022 Heath Freeman DeVon Edwards Paulo Crimber
Kansas City Outlaws Kansas City, Missouri T-Mobile Center 2022 Phil Pulley Jon Williams J.W. Hart
Missouri Thunder Ridgedale, Missouri Thunder Ridge Nature Arena 2022 Johnny Morris Luke Snyder Ross Coleman
Nashville Stampede Nashville, Tennessee Bridgestone Arena 2022 Morris Communications Tina Battock Justin McBride
New York Mavericks Elmont, New York UBS Arena 2024 Marc Lasry Chris Pantani Kody Lostroh
Oklahoma Wildcatters Oklahoma City, Oklahoma Paycom Center 2024 Talor Gooch Chris Dashney Greg Rhodes
  1. ↑ Originally announced as the Carolina Chaos before rebranding to the Carolina Cowboys.
  2. ↑ Originally the Oklahoma Freedom before relocating to Florida in 2024.

Expansion

The league will expand to 12 teams in 2027 with potential expansion markets including Atlanta, Chicago, Denver, Detroit, Edmonton, Southern California, Sacramento, and Salt Lake City.

Season format

Regular season

The PBR Teams Series regular season consists of head-to-head team games contested during a series of events throughout the season. Each team competes against another team in a five-on-five matchup, with five riders from each team designated to compete in the game. Each rider attempts to remain on a bull for eight seconds, with qualified rides receiving a score based on the rider's and bull's performances. The scores of the team's qualified rides are combined to determine its game score, with the team accumulating the higher total winning the game.

Teams earn standings points based on their results during the regular season. The regular season standings determine seeding for the PBR Teams Championship, with teams advancing to the postseason according to the league's championship qualification and elimination format. Regular-season games are contested at team homestands and selected neutral-site events, allowing each franchise to host an event in its home market during the season.

The number of regular season games and events has changed as the league has expanded. The inaugural 2022 season featured eight teams playing 28 regular-season games each. The league retained an eight-team format through 2023 before expanding to 10 teams in 2024. Subsequent seasons have used revised schedules and game totals as PBR adjusted the competition's event and scheduling structure.

Postseason

The PBR Teams Series postseason culminates in the PBR Teams Championship, a progressive-elimination tournament contested after the regular season. Teams are seeded according to their final regular season standings, with higher-seeded teams receiving advantages in the opening stages of the championship. Championship games use the same five-on-five, head-to-head format as regular season games, with the winning team advancing and losing teams facing elimination or a Last Chance Game depending on the stage of the tournament.

Beginning in 2024, the championship was expanded to accommodate the league's 10-team format. The top six teams in the regular season standings automatically qualified for the championship, while the teams finishing seventh through tenth competed in a Ride-In Round for the final two championship berths. The top two seeds then received first-round byes, while the remaining teams competed in the opening rounds of the progressive-elimination tournament.

For the 2025 championship, PBR revised the postseason format so that all 10 teams participated in the championship event. The top three teams in the regular season standings received byes into the second day, while the remaining seven teams competed on Wild Card Friday. Teams ranked eighth through tenth competed in a three-team opening game, while additional games and a Last Chance Game determined which teams advanced. Saturday included another three-team Last Chance Game, and Sunday's schedule consisted of semifinal games, a third-place game, and the championship game.

Trophies and awards

Regular season champions

SeasonTeamRecordScoreRegular-Season MVPRookie of the Year
2022 Austin Gamblers 16–12 4426.50 Brazil José Vitor Leme (Austin Gamblers) N/a
2023 Austin Gamblers 19–9 4370.75 Brazil José Vitor Leme (Austin Gamblers)
2024 Kansas City Outlaws 19–9 6329.25 United States John Crimber (Florida Freedom)
2025 Florida Freedom 25–10 8375.50 United States John Crimber (Florida Freedom) Brazil Everton Natan da Silva (Arizona Ridge Riders)

Championship winners

Season Date Winners Score Runner-ups Championship MVP
2022 November 6, 2022 Nashville Stampede 226.00 201.50 Arizona Ridge Riders N/a
2023 October 22, 2023 Texas Rattlers 355.25 265.25 Austin Gamblers Brazil João Ricardo Vieira (Texas Rattlers)
2024 October 20, 2024 Austin Gamblers 357.50 252.50 Carolina Cowboys United States John Crimber (Florida Freedom)
2025 October 26, 2025 Carolina Cowboys 242.50 177.75 Missouri Thunder United States Clay Guiton (Carolina Cowboys)

Monster Energy Team Challenge champions

Season Date Winners Score Runner-ups
2026 April 24, 2026 Missouri Thunder 254.75 171.35 Austin Gamblers

Draft

The PBR Teams Series Draft is used to allocate riders to teams before the start of each season. Teams select eligible riders from the available pool in a predetermined selection order, with the draft intended to establish and maintain the rosters used during the regular season. Riders selected in the draft become members of the selecting team and may subsequently be retained, traded, released, or replaced in accordance with league rules.

The inaugural PBR Team Series Draft was held in Fort Worth, Texas, in 2022 ahead of the league's first season. The eight founding teams participated in the draft, with riders selected to form the initial rosters for the new team competition.

Following the expansion of the league to 10 teams in 2024, the PBR held an expansion draft for the New York Mavericks and Oklahoma Wildcatters. The six-round expansion draft allowed the two new franchises to select riders from the existing league player pool before their inaugural seasons.

Free agency

Free agency is one of the mechanisms used by the PBR Team Series to add riders to team rosters outside of the league's draft process. Teams may sign eligible riders who are not under contract with another team, allowing franchises to add riders during the offseason and, subject to league rules, during the season. Free-agent signings can be used to fill roster vacancies, strengthen a team's lineup, or replace riders who are released, injured, or otherwise unavailable.

References

  1. ↑ Giangola, Andrew (5 November 2021). "Something to really cheer about: PBR announces PBR Team Series". Professional Bull Riders. Retrieved 17 September 2026.
  2. ↑ Giangola, Andrew (6 November 2021). "PBR Team Series to hold playoffs and championship in T-Mobile Arena". Professional Bull Riders. Retrieved 17 September 2026.
  3. ↑ Giangola, Andrew (6 January 2022). "PBR Team Series cities and owners named for elite bull riding league launching in June 2022". Professional Bull Riders. Retrieved 17 September 2026.
  4. ↑ Felisko, Justin (21 April 2022). "2022 PBR Team Series Draft Order". Professional Bull Riders. Retrieved 18 September 2026.
  5. ↑ Giangola, Andrew (15 March 2022). "Carolina Cowboys Race Towards Excellence". Professional Bull Riders. Retrieved 17 September 2026.
  6. ↑ Giangola, Andrew (4 March 2022). "2022 PBR Team Series inaugural season event schedule announced". Professional Bull Riders. Retrieved 18 September 2026.
  7. ↑ Jackson, Eric (19 July 2023). "Big Bucks: PBR Team Series Inks Naming Rights Deal With Camping World". Yahoo! Sports. Retrieved 18 September 2026.
  8. ↑ Mejia-Hilario, Irving (30 March 2026). "PBR Teams Series approves expansion to 12 teams for 2027 season". Sports Business Journal. Retrieved 17 September 2026.
  9. ↑ "PBR Teams 101". Professional Bull Riders. Retrieved 18 September 2026.
  10. ↑ Nierengarten, Brett (24 May 2022). "Round-by-Round Results of PBR Team Series Draft". Cowboy Channel. Retrieved 18 September 2026.
  11. ↑ Albert, Kacie (10 April 2024). "Oklahoma Wildcatters, New York Mavericks assemble initial rosters at 2024 PBR Teams Expansion Draft". Professional Bull Riders. Retrieved 18 September 2026.
  12. ↑ Scott, David (29 June 2025). "WILD WILD WEST Professional Bull Riders GM reveals his team are operating as 'western version' of NFL, NBA and big four leagues". The U.S. Sun. Retrieved 18 September 2026.