“Look out, Brooklyn! There’s a bull on Atlantic Ave.”
A professional bull riding league featuring the world’s most elite riders announced an expansion Friday that will bring a team to Brooklyn’s Barclays Center this upcoming season.
The Avenue Sports Fund acquired the sanctioning rights for the New York Mavericks that will compete in five-on-five bull riding competitions in the 12-event 2024 PBR Camping World Team Series season, which begins this July.
The Mavericks’ inaugural homestand is scheduled for August 9-10 and it’ll be the first time Barclays Center will host a bull riding event in its 12-year history.
“The Avenue Sports Fund’s investment in the Mavericks represents an extraordinary opportunity to establish a professional sports team in a fast-growing, established league and bring it to the nation’s largest media market,” said Avenue Capital Group CEO Marc Lasry. “Barclays Center is a world-class venue, and our goal is to build a championship bull riding team in the heart of Brooklyn to represent the entire state of New York.”
The second expansion team — the Oklahoma Wildcutters — is backed by LIV pro golfer Talor Gooch’s FJS Ventures. The Wildcutters’ inaugural homestand is scheduled for July 12-14 at Paycom Center in Oklahoma City, the opening weekend of the 12-event 2024 PBR Camping World Team Series season. PBR Teams, a league that launched in 2022, now features 10 total teams.
Avenue Capital Group recently launched the Avenue Sports Fund with the aim of providing capital solutions to a wide variety of established teams and leagues across the globe, as well as investments in emerging sports to capitalize on areas of exponential growth.
The new teams will begin to build rosters when up to six riders are selected in the 2024 Expansion Draft, scheduled to be held in New York City in April. During a competition, each team has five starters and up to seven riders on the bench. The Mavericks and Wildcutters will add additional riders when the 2024 New Rider Draft takes place in April. Teams can also add unrestricted free agents.
PBR has made numerous stops at Madison Square Garden in the past, but now Barclays Center will finally host bull riding.
“PBR has set record after record in New York City for the past 17 years, and fans in the greater New York area deserve their own bull riding team,” said PBR CEO Sean Gleason.
The 2024 PBR Camping World Team Series’ 12-event regular season begins on July 12 in Oklahoma City and culminates with a team playoff at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas from October 17-20.
