Adding another resource for aspiring bull riders to find their way in a growing sport and get to the next level, PBR has debuted PBR EVO The Bullsh*t, a podcast available on pbr.seqlpro.com.

Hosted by Riley Lambert, PBR’s VP of Competition and Judging, PBR EVO The Bullsh*t promises wide-ranging, unfiltered conversations covering the personal and professional development of bull riders while showcasing increasing opportunities in an expanding sport.

“There’s never been a better time to be a professional bull rider,” Lambert said. “Our goal is to showcase the opportunities available to riders and raise awareness of the PBREVO.com website, a new free, one-stop rider development platform. We’ll have career-oriented conversations that are compelling to bull riders as well as potential bull riders. We also hope to interest fans eager to hear bull riders talk about their careers.”

Guests will include accomplished PBR riders, stars on the horizon, and PBR team coaches.

The debut episode features a deep, hour-long conversation with Justin McBride, two-time PBR World Champion and Head Coach of the Nashville Stampede, inaugural champions in the PBR Camping World Team Series.

“Bull riding is having your torch and trying to keep the saber tooth out of the cave. It gets that kind of real. It can turn into life and death,” McBride said. “There’s got to be something in you that doesn’t run to the back of the cave.”

McBride recounted first getting on real bulls as a young teenager when the film “8 Seconds” came out.

“It brought to the forefront that the best guy in the world got killed doing this,” he said.

Bull riding had been cool and fun to do. Now, it turned into something different. McBride knew he’d be sacrificing his body, maybe more, to pursue his dream.

What separates the riders who can be consistent and turn elite from the rest of the pack will be grist for many more hours on PBR EVO The Bullsh*t, including guests such as John Crimber, Paulo Crimber, J.W. Hart, Cody Lambert, and Joao Ricardo Vieira.

PBR EVO (short for “PBR Evolution”) refers to the organization’s new platform for enhancing its pool of riders. It was designed as a resource to find, motivate, train, and develop athletes outside of Western sports who are interested in riding bulls as well as those with some level of bull riding experience who want to accelerate their development.

On the EVO platform, developed in partnership with SEQL, each rider creates a personal profile and enters their information, competition and practice videos, and upcoming events they’re scheduled for. The platform also provides a way to connect with other riders as well as coaches.

PBR EVO, which launched at the 2023 National High School Finals, now has more than 1,400 athlete profiles.

“We want everyone who owns a bull rope or is capable of riding a bull and intending to buy a bull rope to have a profile,” said Lambert, who grew up around the sport and started with PBR in 2019 as head of competition and judging. Previously, he was Rodeo Manager for RFD TV’s The American.

Other Rider Development initiatives in the works include a virtual curriculum and coaches’ certification, Lambert said.

The curriculum will cover areas such as riding fundamentals, in-arena and out-of-arena practices, physical training, prehab and rehab, and knowledge courses, including compensation and contracts.

Because developing a base of coaches goes hand in hand with increasing the pipeline of riders, PBR will also develop coach certification clinics.

Beneath the PBR EVO Bulls*t podcast’s fun and irreverent name attempting to grab the attention of cowboys is serious business – attracting athletes to an increasingly lucrative career riding bulls while feeding a pipeline of competitors for a sport continuing to add events with the advent of PBR Teams and the Challenger Series.

Bull riders are competing for more money than ever. Since the launch of PBR Teams, there has been a $10 million annual increase in athlete pay.

In individual competition, this year’s 2024 PBR World Finals will pay out a record purse of more than $3.1 million.

PBR’s new athlete development platform can also help teams in their recruiting, while promoting bull riding to young athletes currently in other sports.

“If bull riding were easy, everyone would be a bull rider,” said Sean Gleason, CEO and Commissioner, PBR. “Bull riding is a difficult, challenging sport – the quintessential ‘game’ requiring courage, grit, toughness, and determination. To be a bull rider is to be the ultimate badass pro athlete. Previously, riders were on their own in figuring it out. We are now building a process for getting to the top, where there’s more money to be made than ever before.”

Photo courtesy of Andy Watson/Bull Stock Media