PBR COMING TO AT&T! | Join ETBlitz at the rodeo, or watch on CBS Sports Network
Among those chasing him: John Crimber (below) of Decatur, Texas. (Photos courtesy of PBR)
Anybody wanna go to the rodeo?
You don’t have to go far.
The Professional Bull Riders World Finals is set for AT&T Stadium in Arlington this weekend – in fact, it’s a week-long rodeo celebration that began last weekend with eliminations and culminates Saturday and Sunday at the home of the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys, where PBR will crown its 2024 world champion.
ETBlitz.com will be on hand to cover the event, our first PBR World Championship.
There will be around 45 riders competing for that title, and a $1 million prize.
There’s a new format this year, PBR says: tournament style, three stages, a total purse of $3.13 million. The Ride For Redemption is scheduled for Cowtown Coliseum in Fort Worth on Wednesday and Thursday, and the championship Saturday and Sunday at AT&T Stadium.
Thirteen riders won regular season events this year, and Cassio Dias of Sao F. de Sales, Brazil, leads the standings over second-place John Crimber, of Decatur, Texas, by 560.5 points. Both are rookies, seeking to win both the world title and the rookie of the year title in the same season.
Fourteen of this year’s qualifiers are first-time finalists, obviously including Dias and Crimber.
And there’s also, um, the ability to Unleash The Beast.
A new event the PBR is debuting this year is one rider, not including ride score points, has the chance to earn a maximum 1,240 Unleash The Beast points across both the eliminationsand championship rounds. Explained by PBR: Each round winner will earn 80 points, with the event winner of eliminations collecting 200 points and the winner of the championshipearning 400 points. Riders will also earn points for their ride scores. Rides from 70-79.75 points will earn 7 points, 80-89.75 will earn 8 points and rides 90-99.75 will earn 9 bonus points. Should a rider register all 90-point rides at both eliminationsand the championship, he would earn an additional 72 world points.
Here are the Unleash the Beast qualifiers: Dias; Crimber; Dalton Kasel (Muleshoe, Texas); Eduardo Aparecido (Gouvelandia, Brazil); Alan de Souza (Taubate, Brazil); Koltin Hevalow (Smithville, Missouri); Joao Ricardo Vieira (Itatinga, Brazil); Brady Fielder (Clermont, Queensland, Australia); Caden Bunch (Tahlequah, Oklahoma); Kaique Pacheco (Itatiba, Brazil); Leonardo Castro (Cassilandia, Brazil); Thiago Salgado (Navirai, Brazil); Julio Cesar Marques (Tatui, Brazil); Cody Jesus (Window Rock, Arizona); Cord McFadden (Novice, Texas); Alex Cerqueira (Iguatemi, Brazil); Keyshawn Whitehorse (McCracken Spring, Utah); Daylon Swearingen (Piffard, New York); Kaiden Loud (Kaufman, Texas); Sage Steel Kimzey (Strong City, Oklahoma); Wingson Henrique da Silva (Navirai, Brazil; questionable to compete due to injury); Felipe Furlan (Sales Oliveira, Brazil); Vitor Losnake (Bauru, Brazil); Mauricio Moreira (Gaviao Peixoto, Brazil); Clay Guiton (Cherryville, North Carolina; questionable due to injury); Boudreaux Campbell (Crockett, Texas); Paulo Eduardo Rosseto (Colorado, Brazil); Ednelio Almeida (Cacoal, Brazil); Wyatt Rogers (Hulbert, Oklahoma); Jesse Petri (Dublin, Texas); Mason Taylor (Maypearl, Texas); Bob Mitchell (Steelville, Missouri); Conner Halverson (Gordon, Nebraska); Ezekiel Mitchell (Rockdale, Texas); Kyler Oliver (Roy, Utah); Andrew Alvidrez (Seminole, Texas); Callum Miller (Warwick, Queensland, Australia); Silvano Alves (Pilar do Sul, Brazil); JaCauy Hale (Ganado, Arizona); and Ederson Santos (Ilha Solteira, Brazil).
The final five riders will punch their tickets to the 2024 PBR World Finals via the Pendleton Whisky Velocity Tour Finals May 3-4 in Corpus Christi, Texas. The alternates for this season’s World Finals are Dawson Branton(Jefferson, Oregon), Jake Morinec(Mokena, Illinois) and Lucas Divino(Nova Crixas, Brazil).
Dias is off to a great start to his career – maybe the best start of anyone to any career in PBR history. He led everyone by winning seven events this year, and also led in qualified rides (37), 90-point rides (eight), outs (69), round wins (13) and won the most money ($436,274). It’s no wonder Dias occupies the top ranking in the world, and was ranked No. 1 for 20 weeks.
Dias was one of three riders – Koltin Hevalow and Paulo Eduardo Rosetto were the other two – to compete at all 23 events of the regular season.
Crimber is just 18 years old and is the son of Paulo Crimber, who will be inducted into the PBR Ring of Honor this year.
Crimber, Kasel and the competitors from Texas are looking to become the first Texan since Cooper Davis in 2016 to win the PBR World Championship.
Tickets to the various activities this week can be purchased here: PBR: Unleash the Beast Tickets – 2024 PBR: Unleash the Beast Shows | SeatGeek.
If you can’t go, but would like to watch, PBR will be televised on the CBS Sports Network, with help from streaming-service provider Pluto, and here’s the schedule:
Wednesday, May 15 @ 7:30 p.m. on RidePass on Pluto TV (Ride For Redemption – Round 1)
Thursday, May 16 @ 7:30 p.m. on RidePass on Pluto TV (Ride For Redemption – Round 2)
Saturday, May 18 @ 8:00 p.m. on CBSSN (Championship – Rounds 1 & 2)
Sunday, May 19 @ 11:00 a.m. on CBS Television Network (Highlight Special)
Sunday, May 19 @ 2:00 p.m. on CBSSN (Championship Rounds 3 & 4)