NEW YORK – PBR Teams, the league launched in 2022 that features the world’s top riders in five-on-five bull riding games, will expand with new teams in New York City and Oklahoma City for the 2024 season. Ten teams will compete in the 12-event PBR Camping World Team Series season beginning in July.

The Avenue Sports Fund announced it has acquired the sanctioning rights for New York Mavericks with the team’s inaugural homestand scheduled for Barclays Center on August 9-10, 2024.

Talor Gooch’s FJS Ventures announced the Oklahoma Wildcatters with an inaugural homestand scheduled for July 12-14 at Paycom Center in Oklahoma City, the opening weekend of the 12-event 2024 PBR Camping World Team Series season.

“The Avenue Sports Fund’s investment in the Mavericks represents an extraordinary opportunity to establish a professional sports team in a fast-growing, established league and bring it to the nation’s largest media market,” said Marc Lasry, Avenue Capital’s Chairman, CEO and Co-Founder. “Barclays Center is a world-class venue, and our goal is to build a championship bull riding team in the heart of Brooklyn to represent the entire state of New York.”

Avenue Capital Group recently launched the Avenue Sports Fund with the aim of providing capital solutions to a wide variety of established teams and leagues across the globe, as well as investments in emerging sports to capitalize on areas of exponential growth. Avenue Sports will also look to invest in sports-related media and entertainment, real estate, and other adjacent businesses.

The Oklahoma Freedom previously competed at Paycom Center for the league’s first two seasons, announcing a relocation to Florida following the 2023 season.

“Bringing a bull riding team back to Oklahoma where we intend to build a championship-caliber team in the state I love is a dream come true,” said Gooch. “I’ve always been a PBR fan. Team competition makes the sport even more exciting, generates coverage and creates rabid local fan bases. I’m very excited to join a successful and experienced ownership group working toward growing a sport with vast potential.”

Gooch, a 10-season professional golfer and the 2023 LIV Golf Player of The Year, alongside Preston Lyon, CEO/President of Lyon Sports Group, formed FJS Ventures to invest, operate and/or own sports properties. The Oklahoma Wildcatters is the company’s first business venture.

“Avenue Sports Fund and Talor Gooch’s FJS Ventures are tremendous additions to the accomplished group of owners who have helped make PBR Teams one of the most successful professional sports league launches in the past 25 years,” said Sean Gleason, CEO and Commissioner, PBR. “We’re thrilled to extend our commitment to the great fans in Oklahoma, while giving fans in the greater New York area a new team to rally behind.”

Both teams’ rosters will begin to take shape when up to six riders will be selected in the 2024 Expansion Draft, which is scheduled to be held in New York in early April. Additional riders will fill out the roster when the 2024 New Rider Draft takes place. Finally, unrestricted free agency will also provide the two new teams the opportunity to fill out their roster.

The 2024 PBR Camping World Team Series’ 12-event regular season begins on July 12 in Oklahoma City and culminates with its championship at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas (October 17-20). Each team in their respective city will host a homestand, and there will also be two neutral site league-produced regular season events in Anaheim, CA and Duluth, GA. All PBR Team Series events are carried on CBS Television Network, Paramount+, CBS Sports Network or Pluto TV.

PBR Teams builds on the existing structure of professional bull riding with the same basic rules for judging and scoring qualified 8-second bull rides. Events are structured in a tournament-style format with all teams competing in head-to-head matchups against a different opponent each day. In each game, five riders on a team square off against another team. Full team rosters are comprised of up to seven riders on the Protected Roster and up to five Reserve Roster members. The team with the highest aggregate score of qualified rides among its riders is declared the winner of each game, and each game day has a team winner as well.

In the 2023 season, PBR Teams broadcasts on CBS averaged more than 1 million viewers, according to Nielsen.

Photo courtesy of Bull Stock Media