The Monster Energy Team Challenge continues to evolve in 2026, further integrating PBR Teams competition into the Unleash The Beast season without changing the structure or integrity of UTB events.
At select UTB stops, the Monster Energy Team Challenge introduces head-to-head team games that are contested live as part of Round 1. Riders still compete for UTB event money, world standings points and aggregate finishes, but those same rides now also carry team consequences — affecting METC standings, playoff qualification and postseason seeding.
Below is a complete breakdown of how the Monster Energy Team Challenge functions in 2026, what changed from 2025, and how those games fit into the UTB weekend and national broadcasts.
The Unleash The Beast event format remains unchanged in 2026. Depending on the stop, events are contested as either:
Two long rounds plus a championship round, or
Three long rounds plus a championship round
At UTB events hosting the Monster Energy Team Challenge, the team games are conducted at the conclusion of Round 1 on Friday night.
All UTB-qualified riders whose teams are not competing in the Monster Energy Team Challenge that weekend will complete their Round 1 outs first. Once those rides are finished, the competition shifts to the Monster Energy Team Challenge games, which close out the round.
Those rides are official UTB outs. Scores count toward Round 1, aggregate placement, UTB standings and prize money, with the added layer of determining team results in the Monster Energy Team Challenge.
At the season-opening stop, that means the Monster Energy Team Challenge games will be contested live Friday, Jan. 9, inside Madison Square Garden, concluding Round 1 of the UTB event, before being showcased nationally during the CBS broadcast Saturday at 3:30 p.m. ET.
The 2026 Monster Energy Team Challenge regular season is contested across 10 Unleash The Beast events, with two head-to-head games at each stop.
Each game is a 4 riders vs. 4 riders format:
Four riders per team
One ride per rider
Eight total outs per game
All rides occur during Round 1 and are drawn from the same pen as the rest of the UTB field. Bulls are assigned randomly in accordance with standard UTB draw procedures.
Across the season, the 10 stops produce 20 total METC games, and every one of those games counts toward the Monster Energy Team Challenge standings.
Scores posted by riders competing in Monster Energy Team Challenge games apply simultaneously to three areas:
The applicable UTB event round and aggregate standings
The rider’s UTB season standings and money won list
The team’s cumulative score in that head-to-head game
There is no separate scoring system for METC. The same judges, the same scoring scale and the same standards apply.
Each Monster Energy Team Challenge game is decided strictly by cumulative score of the four riders per team.
Possible outcomes are:
Win: Team with the higher aggregate score
Loss: Team with the lower aggregate score
Tie: Both teams record at least one qualified ride and finish level on aggregate score
Double loss: Neither team records a qualified ride
In the event of a tie, METC prize money is distributed evenly. In a double loss, no METC prize money is awarded.
Team records are tracked throughout the regular season, and official METC standings are maintained based solely on these results.
At the conclusion of the regular season, only the top four teams in the Monster Energy Team Challenge standings qualify for the playoffs.
There are no additional qualification paths. No wild cards. No carryover from standard PBR Teams standings.
In the event of a tie in team records, postseason qualification and seeding are determined by:
Season-long aggregate score across all METC games
Season-long point differential across all METC games
Once the playoffs begin, the Monster Energy Team Challenge expands in size and consequence.
The four qualifying teams advance to a single-game, 7 riders vs. 7 riders playoff format:
Semifinal 1: Albuquerque
Semifinal 2: Billings
Championship Game: Tacoma
Each playoff game is decided by the cumulative score of all seven riders per team. There are no series and no carryover scores from previous rounds.
The No. 1 seed chooses whether it will compete in Albuquerque or Billings, facing the No. 4 seed in its selected market. The No. 2 and No. 3 seeds compete in the remaining semifinal. The winners advance to the championship.
The championship game in Tacoma is a winner-take-all 7v7 contest that determines the 2026 Monster Energy Team Challenge Champions.
One of the notable procedural changes for 2026 removes the coach from the replay challenge process in Monster Energy Team Challenge games.
Head coaches will not have replay challenges available during METC competition — meaning even the keen eye of Cody Lambert won’t be able to throw a challenge from the sidelines. Challenges may only be initiated by riders.
Riders may still challenge their own rides if they believe a call was missed or incorrectly assessed. Teams are prohibited from initiating or controlling replay challenges.
The change is designed to streamline competition flow and place responsibility directly on the rider whose out is being judged.
While Monster Energy Team Challenge games are contested live Friday night as part of Round 1 of the UTB event, the competition is packaged for a national broadcast on CBS Saturday at 3:30 p.m. ET, beginning with the opening event at Madison Square Garden. Fans will first see a heated Texas rivalry as the Texas Rattlers take on the Austin Gamblers, followed by the hometown New York Mavericks squaring off against the defending PBR Teams champions, the Carolina Cowboys.
This presentation gives fans everything in one place — the matchups, the drama, the results and what it all means for the standings — all unfolding in a single, must-watch broadcast.
For the full Monster Energy Team Challenge schedule, team matchups and event-specific details click HERE.
Photo courtesy of Bull Stock Media