PUEBLO, Colo. – Ahead of the second season of the PBR (Professional Bull Riders) Team Series, the League has announced it will host three sanctioned rider Combines leading into a Combine Championship.
The PBR Team Series Combine: The Future of Bull Riding for the 2023 season will work toward the long-term objective of rider development, while allowing new riders and unrestricted free agents an opportunity to showcase their skills to Team Coaches and General Managers during the current Free Agency period and prior to the 2023 Draft to be held on May 17 during PBR World Finals in Fort Worth, Texas.
The three-day Combines will be held in Archdale, North Carolina, on March 14-16; Pueblo, Colorado, on March 28-30 and Bowie, Texas, on April 25–27, culminating with the PBR Team Series Combine Championship at Cowtown Coliseum in Fort Worth on the evening of April 27. Tickets for the championship event are now on sale through AXS only and can be purchased at cowtowncoliseum.com or the onsite box office.
PBR anticipates a minimum of 25 riders participating in both Carolina and Colorado and more than 50 riders in Texas. Up to a dozen of the top riders from each Combine will be invited to Fort Worth to compete for $15,000 and the title of becoming the first PBR Teams Combine Champion.
Team Coaches who will be on hand include: Arizona Ridge Riders’ Paulo Crimber and Colby Yates; Austin Gamblers’ Michael Gaffney; Carolina Cowboys’ Jerome Davis; Kansas City Outlaws’ J.W. Hart; Missouri Thunder’s Ross Coleman and Luke Snyder; Nashville Stampede’s Justin McBride; Oklahoma Freedom’s Cord McCoy; and Texas Rattlers’ Cody Lambert.
“Combines are important to help develop riders and give teams a chance to scout upcoming talent,” said Sean Gleason, Commissioner and CEO, PBR. “In the inaugural Team Series Combine in 2022, 17 of the 54 riders who attended were drafted by Teams, and an additional five riders were signed as free agents during the 2022 Inaugural Season. We welcome serious riders looking for a great future with a team to register for the upcoming combines.”
Held during PBR’s 30th anniversary season, the 2023 PBR Team Series’ 11-event season begins at Cheyenne Frontier Days, on July 25-26 and culminates with the Team Series Championship in Las Vegas on October 20-22 at T-Mobile Arena.
Photo courtesy of Todd Brewer/Bull Stock Media