PUEBLO, Colo. – On Friday, the PBR announced that two teams will join the PBR Camping World Team Series in the 2024 season: the New York Mavericks and the Oklahoma Wildcatters.
This expands the league from eight teams to 10, bringing the revolutionary PBR Teams concept into two new cities. (While the Wildcatters are a new franchise, Oklahoma City did play host to the Oklahoma Freedom before their move to Florida.)
The Wildcatters will host the opening event of the season at Paycom Center on July 12-14, while the Mavericks will welcome the bull riding world to the Barclays Center in Brooklyn on Aug. 9-10.
While these teams are new, the PBR has significant history in both New York City and Oklahoma City. The premier series has been visiting Oklahoma City since 1999 and New York City since 2007, with each city seeing some historic moments.
Relive some of the highlights in our newest team hometowns, and don’t miss the action there in 2024!
New York City
Bucking bulls in Times Square, 2010
In 2010, the PBR’s Top 10 bull riders took to the literal streets of Manhattan for one more round of action before the 2010 PBR World Finals in Las Vegas. Travis Briscoe took the win with 87 points on Sky Hawk Cut A Rug, setting up a hell of a world title showdown at the Thomas & Mack Center the following week. With thousands of pedestrians milling around the dirt, it was one of the most unique events the PBR has ever held.
Silvano Alves notches record-breaking 24th consecutive qualified ride, 2015
It may not have been his highest-scoring ride, but Silvano Alves’s 77.25-point trip on Delco in Madison Square Garden was still a part of history. The ride was Alves’s 24th in a row, setting a PBR record for the three-time World Champion.
Jess Lockwood wins in NYC in both world title seasons, 2017 and 2019
The youngest two-time World Champion in PBR history knows how to win in New York City, and when he does, it always means good things. He won the Buck Off at the Garden in both 2017 and 2019, and in both years, he also went on to win the world title.
J.B. Mauney notches 500th ride on the premier series, 2018
Few PBR bull riders have had careers as successful as J.B. Mauney, and the dragon slayer hit a huge milestone in New York City in 2018. He rode All the Way Up for 87.25 points to become just the third rider in history to reach 500 career rides on the premier series, joining 2004 World Champion Mike Lee and 2008 World Champion Guilherme Marchi in the prestigious club. Alves has since reached the milestone as well.
RELATED: Relive eight of the top moments from the PBR in New York City
Oklahoma City
Dillinger scores 48 points, 2000
While bull scores of 48 points or higher are incredibly few and far between, legendary bovine Dillinger reached 48 points a whopping seven times in 2000 en route to his first of back-to-back World Championships. One of them came in Oklahoma City, when he dispatched Cauy Hudson.
Mason Lowe rides SweetPro’s Bruiser for 91 points, 2016
The late, great Mason Lowe was known for a few rank rides in his career. While he and Smooth Operator will forever be linked in the annals of history, Lowe’s highest-scoring ride actually came aboard SweetPro’s Bruiser in Oklahoma City in 2016. Lowe went 4-for-4, including 91 points on the three-time World Champion.
Ryan Dirteater rides SweetPro’s Bruiser for 93.25 points in front of a home crowd, 2018
Hulbert, Oklahoma, native Ryan Dirteater was a fan-favorite all across the country, but especially in his home state. When he came to Oklahoma City in 2018, Dirt went 3-for-3 to take the event win, capping it off with 93.25 points on SweetPro’s Bruiser – not only the highest score of his career but tying for the highest score at any premier series event in OKC.
Oklahoma Freedom win Freedom Fest, 2022
Oklahoma City is not new to the Teams game, as it was home to the Oklahoma Freedom – now the Florida Freedom – for the league’s first two years. In the inaugural season, the boys in red, white and blue threw the ultimate homecoming party at Freedom Fest. They won the event by going 3-0 with three walk-off rides from Derek Kolbaba and put the cherry on top when Chase Outlaw rode Woopaa for 94.75 points in the bonus round. Let freedom ring!
Photo courtesy of Andy Watson/Bull Stock Media
