PUEBLO, Colo. (July 24, 2023) – PBR (Professional Bull Riders) has announced changes to the Official PBR Teams Rulebook heading into the league’s second 11-event PBR Camping World Team Series season, which begins tonight in Cheyenne, Wyoming.
The changes include breaking first place ties at the conclusion of an Event with “Extra-Outs” taken by the tied teams, replacing the full bonus round that had concluded events; using sky-cam technology in judging and timing; eliminating very low-percentage coaches’ challenges; expanding opportunities for in-game substitutions; creating new injured reserve categories; and increasing the payout to riders with greater rewards for regular season event wins and final season standings along with awarding an MVP rider for each event.
Here is a summary of the major rule changes for 2023:
Extra-Outs to replace the Bonus Round
During the regular season, if two or more teams are tied for first place at the conclusion of the event, Extra-Outs – up to three additional rounds of bull riding competition – will decide the event. Extra-Outs will feature one rider per team per round, taken by teams tied for first place only in the event standings. The high-marked qualified score in an Extra-Out Round will result in a win for the rider’s team. If there are no qualified rides in the first Extra-Out, there will be a second Extra-Out, and then a third if necessary. If there are no qualified rides after three Extra-Outs, the tie breaker will be the aggregate score from the event.
In the event of an event tie triggering Extra-Outs, for the Extra-Out Bull Draft, the team with the higher aggregate score will pick their bull first.
To further incentivize and reward riders, the highest-marked rider in Extra-Out situations will earn a $5,000 Extra-Outs Bonus.
In-Game Roster Substitutions
During the inaugural Teams season, in-game roster substitutions were only allowed in instances of Re-Rides. New for 2023, if a team is mathematically eliminated in a game, both teams can substitute their final rider(s) if the rider(s) scheduled for the out(s) agree to the substitution and the new incoming rider(s) agrees as well.
New Injured Reserve categories
Pre-Season Injured Reserve and Full-Season Injured Reserve (IR) status for riders have been added, totaling three forms of IR. The changes are designed to give teams more roster flexibility and riders the opportunity for more recovery time following an injury. The IR categories are:
– Pre-Season IR: Prior to July 17 for the first five events of the 2023 Season
– Regular Season IR: Begins on July 17 for a minimum of two events during the 2023 Season
– Full Season IR: Eligibility is at any time for the remainder of the 2023 Season
Advance Bull Riding Prohibited
Once the bull lineup is publicly announced for the next PBR Teams event, Riders are not allowed to attempt those bulls for practice before the event. Riders, Stock Contractors and Teams who violate this rule can each be fined, and also given other sanctions, including bull and rider disqualifications.
Changes in Judging, Timing and Coaches’ Challenges
In 2023, beginning in Kansas City (Aug 3-5), PBR will implement SkyStart – an A.I.-based computer and camera system that tracks each bull electronically to determine when his body crosses the chute plane to start the 8-second clock. This major technological improvement, recording 29 frames per second, will replace the process of a judge manually starting the clock. (SkyStart will not be available for the outdoor events at Cheyenne and Ridgedale.)
Additionally, a seventh judge will be added, with one judge placed in the production truck to manage and be the ultimate decision maker of replays. All calls on the dirt will now be final unless the Replay Judge or a Team calls for a review, using their one challenge per game, which is returned if the challenge is upheld. This is a change from 2022, when all six judges could call for a replay.
If a Team uses a Challenge on the fifth ride for either Team and the Challenge is unsuccessful, the Team will be fined $1,500 for each instance. This change is designed to increase the speed of play and ensure challenges are not being used as a desperate attempt to secure a Re-Ride without any evidence of an infraction.
PBR will also institute a system for rating and rewarding Judges to ensure that the best judges are first to be invited to work during the regular season and championship event.
Increased Rider Prize and Payout Money with greater emphasis on winning regular season events
In 2023, an additional $305,000 will be included in the Rider prize pool, raising the total from $2,580,000 to $2,885,000. With $375,000 shifted from the Championship Event to Regular Season Events, riders will be paid $72,500 per event compared to $50,000 in 2022. Additionally, $680,000 will be paid out eight places deep for Final Regular Season Standings vs. $400,000 last season.
New for 2023, the rider with the highest aggregate score for the weekend will be awarded the Event MVP, paying $10,000. The payout for the 2023 full-season MVP will double to $100,000.
About The PBR Camping World Team Series
The PBR Camping World Team Series is an elite league featuring the world’s top bull riders competing on teams in five-on-five bull riding games during an 11-event season beginning in July and culminating in a Team Championship at T- Mobile Arena in Las Vegas October 20-22. During the 2023 season, the league’s second, each of the eight teams – Austin Gamblers of Austin, TX; Arizona Ridge Riders of Glendale, AZ; Carolina Cowboys of Greensboro, NC; Kanas City Outlaws of Kansas City, MO; Nashville Stampede of Nashville, TN; Oklahoma Freedom of Oklahoma City, OK; Missouri Thunder of Ridgedale, MO; and Texas Rattlers of Fort Worth, TX – will host a three-day homestand. There are also neutral-site games in Cheyenne, WY and Anaheim, CA. The Nashville Stampede are the current 2022 defending champions.
The league format, which launched in July 2022, builds on the existing structure of professional bull riding with the same basic rules for judging and scoring qualified 8-second bull rides. In events staged in a tournament-style format, all teams compete in head-to-head matchups against a different opponent each day. Each game features five riders per team squaring off against another team. Full team rosters are comprised of seven riders on the Protected Roster and five Reserve riders. The team with the highest aggregate score of qualified rides among its riders is declared the winner of each game. The event winner is the team with the most game wins across an events. All PBR Team Series events are carried on either the CBS Television Network, streaming live on Paramount+, CBS Sports Network, or RidePass on Pluto TV.
PBR is a subsidiary of IMG, a global leader in sports, fashion, events and media. For more information, visit PBR.com, or follow on Facebook at Facebook.com/PBR, Twitter at Twitter.com/PBR, and YouTube at YouTube.com/PBR.
