KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Reigning Stock Contractor of the Year Chad Berger has attended two of the first three PBR Global Cups, and every time he left the arena, whether it be in Edmonton, Alberta, or Arlington, Texas, he always had the same impression.

A team-formatted bull riding competition always brings out the riders’ best.

Therefore, it only seemed fitting for him to decide to add a team competition to his 19^th annual Dakota Community Bank & Trust PBR Bull Riding Challenge Touring Pro Division event in Bismarck, North Dakota.

Berger confirmed in Kansas City this past weekend that he would be holding a $100,000 PBR Bull Rider Team World Championship during his two-day bull riding on June 14-15 at the Bismarck Event Center.

“We were talking about what we wanted to do, and I think this is the best way to get the very best guys in the world riding against each other,” Berger said. “Having a team concept with the winning team splitting $100,000.”

Berger has selected five bull riders to serve as team captains for the challenge: three-time World Champion J.B. Mauney, 2017 World Champion Jess Lockwood, 2016 World Champion Cooper Davis, 2018 runner-up Jose Vitor Leme and six-time PBR World Finals qualifier Stetson Lawrence.

Each captain will select two riders and an alternate to join their respective teams.

Lawrence will be selecting a Native American team, similar to the Team USA Wolves that competed at the PBR Global Cup USA, while the remaining four captains will participate in a draft to fill out their squads.

The captains can pick riders from any country to ride on their team.  

“It is different from a regular event in (that) the guys ride better because they have three teammates behind the chute screaming and hollering for them,” Berger said. “It is a team concept and it makes them run their hand in a little bit further and try a little bit harder.”

The winning team will also win a custom saddle, buckle, YETI cooler, rifle and more, according to Berger. The Top 3 individual performances in the challenge will also win $12,500, $7,500 and $5,000.

Berger is known for always hosting some kind of bonus challenge during his bull riding event, which has involved Mauney the past two years.

Mauney returned from a broken back last year to compete in Berger’s $100,000 Match of Champions, and the 32-year-old also previously attempted to ride Pearl Harbor for $50,000 in 2017.

“Chad always has a lot of money and he wants the best guys there,” Mauney said. “They are all Berger bulls, so they will all be good.”

Mauney has not competed in a team bull riding since the 2009 World Cup in Barretos, Brazil, and he is excited to have the opportunity to attempt to draft his closest friends.

“It has been a while, but it will be fun,” Mauney said. “I will pick my buddies because all of my buddies are badasses.”

Berger is tentatively planning to have the draft in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, in two weeks when the PBR is in town for the First PREMIER Bank PREMIER Bankcard Invitational (April 5-7).

One rider that will ultimately be at the top of the draft list is current world No. 1 Chase Outlaw, who is fresh off a 3-for-3 victory at the Caterpillar Classic.

Davis is hoping he can land the first pick, which Berger says will be determined at random, and select Outlaw.

 “There are a bunch of guys that ride good, but if I could have any guy in the draft it would be Outlaw,” Davis said. “Anyone in the world, I would want Chase Outlaw because he brings all the energy to the team and he rides really good. For sure, everybody has that same idea.”

Davis finished runner-up to Lockwood at last year’s Match of Champions, picking up $25,000 for riding Stretch for 91.5 points.

“This is going to be really cool,” Davis said. “That event there is one I look forward to every year, just for the simple fact that Chad is having all of his bulls there and having a pretty dang even pen of bulls you can be a bunch of points on.”

Lockwood said on Monday he was pumped for this year’s team event.

“Honored!” Lockwood said in a text to PBR.com. “That’s a badass deal.”

Leme was a last-minute addition for the team challenge as a captain after Kaique Pacheco informed Berger he was going to be staying home in Brazil for the summer Unleash The Beast break.

Berger said it made sense to give the spot to Leme as he finished runner-up to Pacheco last year.

Leme has already stated he is staying in the United States to chase after every world point possible during the summer break.

“It is a great honor to be a team captain in such a grandiose event,” Leme said. “I’m very excited for this.”

Lawrence is always excited to ride in front of his home state, and the North Dakota native is certainly honored to ride with a team of Native Americans again.

“It is like the Global Cup and everybody is excited about that kind of format,” Lawrence said. “We have good odds, especially because all these other guys are split up. It is badass again. We need to do this more often.  I like this payout, it looks real good.”

Follow Justin Felisko on Twitter @jfelisko