Monster Energy Team Challenge preview: Austin Gamblers vs. Texas Rattlers
The Texas Cup takes center stage when the Unleash The Beast returns to Houston, Texas.
By Darci Miller
FORT WORTH – Two games into the PBR Monster Energy Team Challenge, presented by Camping World, and it’s looking like upset city.
First, we saw the New York Mavericks take down the juggernaut Florida Freedom on home dirt inside Madison Square Garden. Last week, the Nashville Stampede got in on the fun, toppling the heavy-hitting Carolina Cowboys in a lopsided victory at the PBR Chicago.
This coming weekend, at the Michelob ULTRA PBR Houston, it’s the 2024 PBR Teams Champion Austin Gamblers taking on the 2023 PBR Teams Champion Texas Rattlers in the first installment of the Texas Cup. And this one might be considered an upset regardless of who wins!
In case you missed it, all but two regular-season UTB events in 2025 will feature a PBR Teams rivalry game baked into Round 1. For those 15 weekends, the final 12 outs of the opening round will be a 6-on-6 game, with all outs counting both towards the UTB event and the game results.
The head-to-head rivalry games are: Arizona vs. Oklahoma; Austin vs. Texas; Carolina vs. Nashville; Florida vs. New York; and Kansas City vs. Missouri.
The Austin Gamblers are the 2024 PBR Camping World Team Series champions. They went on an incredible run at the PBR Teams Championship in October, losing their first game but absolutely running the table from there on out. In their last three games – including the championship game – the Gamblers went a combined 13-for-15 (86.7%), including the team’s first-ever perfect game in the semifinals.
But that doesn’t tell the whole story.
Coming off two consecutive regular-season titles, the Gamblers were far from the dominant squad we’d seen in 2022 and 2023 during the regular season. They were solidly middle-of-the-pack, with a 13-15 record (No. 5 of 10) and a 38.6% riding percentage (No. 6). After acquiring 2018 World Champion Kaique Pacheco in an offseason trade, it was a shocking slump for a roster also boasting two-time World Champion and two-time Teams MVP Jose Vitor Leme and 2019 Rookie of the Year Dalton Kasel.
Was this sluggish team the real Gamblers, or was their dominant title run what this team is? We have to assume the latter.
The 2023 PBR Camping World Team Series champion Texas Rattlers have been one of the most consistent squads in the league since its inception, and 2024 was more of the same – the Rattlers finished the regular season with a 16-12 record for the third consecutive season. Losing out on the No. 3 seed to the Florida Freedom based on their aggregate score, the Rattlers still boasted the fourth-highest riding percentage in the league. They also watched their superstar Brady Fielder record the highest individual riding percentage in the league – a cool 70% (26-for-37) to win the first-ever Great 8 award.
However, when it came time to defend their title, the Rattlers couldn’t finish the job. They won their first game to advance to the second day of competition, where they lost their following game and failed to even record a ride in the Last Chance Game to stay alive. It was a huge disappointment for a team known for its ability to knock down rides when it matters.
It’s the opposite story of the Gamblers’ 2024 season: a strong showing during the regular season and a disappointing one in Las Vegas. Which version of the Rattlers can we expect in Houston?
A RIVALRY RENEWED
2024 Record: 2-1, Texas
The Texas Cup was contested three times in 2024, all during the regular season. The Gamblers won the first contest at Freedom Days in August, 259.5-175, before the Rattlers took the upper hand. The Rattlers defeated the Gamblers at both Texas tour stops, winning at Gambler Days 174.25-0 and Rattler Days 257.5-87.5.
In fact, the Rattlers lost only one game in the Lone Star State in 2024, going a combined 5-1 in Austin and Fort Worth, while the Gamblers went 3-3.
Gamblers head coach Michael Gaffney said his team had a crisis of confidence in 2024. After shaking that off in spectacular fashion in Las Vegas, it’s hard to fathom the Gamblers losing much at all in 2025, especially with another World Champion added to their roster in Sage Steele Kimzey. But with Kimzey and Kasel banged up and Leme questionable for Houston, it might be an uphill battle for the boys in black and green. However, Lucas Divino is fresh off a win in New York City and ranked No. 4 in the UTB standings, and Pacheco and Dener Barbosa are always dangerous.
The Rattlers, meanwhile, still have one of the deepest rosters in the game, with Joao Ricardo Vieira, Daniel Keeping, Braidy Randolph, and a newly resurgent Claudio Montanha Jr. suited up and ready to go.
We have to give the edge to the Gamblers, but absolutely anything can happen.
Don’t miss any of the action! The METC will conclude Round 1 in Houston, which begins Friday, Jan. 17, at 9 p.m. ET on RidePass, the PBR’s YouTube channel and X account, and the PBR app.
