OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. – For the 21st season, PBR’s (Professional Bull Riders) elite Unleash The Beast will buck into Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, welcoming fans into Chesapeake Energy Arena April 17-18 for the PBR Express Ranches Invitational.
The PBR Express Ranches Invitational will abide by the health standards as approved by the Oklahoma City – County Health Department (OCCHD). Through the dual activation of ASM Global’s VenueShield Reopening Plan and the PBR’s “Be Cowboy Safe” guidelines, both Chesapeake Energy Arena and PBR will institute a series of protocols to enhance the safety of guests, including:
- All fans as well as staff and competitors will be required to wear face masks inside Chesapeake Energy Arena.
- In addition to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)-informed screening, all PBR personnel will undergo medical testing for COVID-19. Temperature checks will also be performed daily on all Chesapeake Energy Arena and PBR personnel, including staff, competitors and contractors.
- PBR will only sell up to 45% of arena capacity to separate fans.
- All fans will be in POD seating, to physically distance groups of fans and minimize fan crossover when entering and exiting their seats.
- Chesapeake Energy Arena has gone cashless. All purchases, including concessions and merchandise transactions, will require a debit or credit card, or form of mobile payment.
- Paper tickets will be phased out, allowing for an emphasis on mobile ticketing delivery. Ticketing kiosks will allow guests to scan their own tickets.
- Signage will be placed strategically throughout Chesapeake Energy Arena to encourage physical distancing and health safety protocols, as well as remind guests of new and updated policies.
- Increased availability of pre-packaged concessions, including cutlery and condiments.
- Increased sanitization of high-contact areas including doors, railings, concession counters, merchandise stands, bathrooms and elevators.
- Hand sanitizer stations will be placed throughout the venue at high volume areas to promote hand hygiene.
The PBR Unleash The Beast event in Oklahoma City in mid-April will tentatively mark the first fan-attended event at Chesapeake Energy Arena since the onset of the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic.
The elite PBR Unleash The Beast’s 21st event in Oklahoma City comes on the heels of one of the league’s most historic seasons. PBR was the first major professional sport in North America to return to competition in late April following the COVID-19 related shutdown, and the first to host fans in arena in mid-July with new safety protocols in place. In 2020 following the COVID-19 shutdown, PBR successfully held 20 top-level events, 13 with fans in the arena.
PBR has a storied history in Oklahoma’s capital city, which is the league’s longest-running event in the Sooner State.
In 2020, phenom Jose Vitor Leme (Ribas do Rio Pardo, Brazil) captured his second-consecutive 2020 PBR Unleash The Beast victory at the PBR Express Ranches Invitational, topping the leaderboard inside Chesapeake Energy Arena to overtake the world No. 1 rank.
Inching closer to his first PBR World Championship, Leme’s efforts were headlined by his monstrous 92-point ride on Bullseye (Owens/Wyatt/Smith/Mears). The ride marked his then fourth 90-point ride of the season, allowing Leme to earn his sixth round victory, both league bests.
In the weeks that followed PBR’s 2020 stop in Oklahoma City, Leme’s dominance continued.
While he briefly surrendered the world No. 1 rank, surpassed by fellow Brazilian star Joao Ricardo Vieira (Itatinga, Brazil) for one week, the former semi-professional soccer player who had finished second the previous two seasons, was seemingly unstoppable, determined to finish the season with nothing less than the coveted gold PBR World Championship buckle.
Leme would win a league-leading seven elite tour events and 16 rounds, going a torrid 44-for-65 in covering a head-turning 67.69% of the planet’s rankest bovine athletes en route to the 2020 PBR World Championship.
Other past riders to capture the buckle in one of the most popular long-standing stops on the circuit include: Ryan Dirteater (2019, 2018); Derek Kolbaba (2017), Fabiano Vieira (2016), Matt Triplett (2015), Nathan Schaper (2014), Sean Willingham (2013), Valdiron de Olivera (2012), Paulo Lima (2011), Jordan Hupp (2010), Ednei Caminhas (2009), Jody Newberry (2006), Ross Johnson (2005), Brendon Clark (2004), Gilbert Carrillo (2003), Justin Volz (2002), Jason Bennett (2001, 2000) and the inaugural event champion Tater Porter (1999).
In addition to holding the main Unleash The Beast event, the PBR elite tour event in Oklahoma City in 2020 also featured an American Bucking Bull Inc. (ABBI) Classic event. Showcasing some of the sport’s top-rising bovine athletes between three and four years of age, the ABBI Classic event is held during Round 1 of the tour stop as the bulls go head-to-head for a prize purse of more than $37,000, with the winning bull collecting more than $10,000.
Last season, OK Brand (Moore/D&H Cattle Co./Buck Cattle) posted 89.6 points to win the ABBI Oklahoma City Classic Champion title after bucking off Luciano de Castro (Guzolandia, Brazil) in 2.54 seconds to collect nearly $10,000.
While Leme dominated the 2020 season, fans were also introduced to rising young gun Boudreaux Campbell (Crockett, Texas). After riding at five regular-season premier series stops, Campbell delivered a near-perfect 4-for-5 showing at the 2020 PBR World Finals inside AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas to win the sport’s most prestigious event, surge from No. 33 to No. 3 in the world, and capture the 2020 PBR Rookie of the Year honor.
After hand surgery sidelined him at the start of 2021, Campbell returned to action in February, going 1-for-2 during his season debut in Fort Worth, Texas.
The bull riding action for the PBR Express Ranches Invitational begins with Round 1 at 6:45 p.m. CT on Saturday, April 17, concluding with Round 2 and the championship round at 1:45 p.m. CT on Sunday, April 18.
Additionally, Saturday evening’s event will feature the ABBI Classic Round in tandem with Round 1.
Tickets for the two-day event go on-sale Friday, March 19 at 10:00 a.m. CST and start at $20, taxes and fees not included. Positioned closest to the action, and including a Q&A session with top talent from the PBR, Elite Seats will also be available for $400. Tickets can be purchased online at TicketMaster.com or PBR.com, or by calling PBR customer service at 1-800-732-1727.
For an enhanced PBR experience in a socially-distanced environment, fans can now purchase add-on PBR Premium Experiences which will include the Elite Experience on both Saturday, April 17 and Sunday, April 18 in Oklahoma City.
The Elite Experience, available for $75, will include a Q&A session with a select group of the league’s top riders, bullfighters and stock contractors, exclusive merchandise item, arena concession voucher and commemorative lanyard.
For more information on PBR Premium Experiences and to purchase the Elite Experience for the PBR Express Ranches Invitational in Oklahoma City visit https://pbr.com/tickets/premium-experiences/.
