‘PBR Friday Night Live’ bucks into Fox Nation with high-octane debut
Fox Nation entered the world of live sports on Friday night with a raging debut.
In a historic partnership with the Professional Bull Riders (PBR) league, the streaming platform will be bringing the sport to subscribers with its "PBR Friday Night Live" series.
PBR is the "world’s premier bull riding organization" with more than 1,000 bull riders competing in 200-plus events each year, according to a partnership press release.
At the time of the partnership's announcement in July, Fox Nation president Lauren Petterson said of PBR: "We could not ask for a better partner to kick off our first foray into live sports. PBR is an incredibly unique sport with an unrivaled, passionate fan base, and it’s a great addition to the entire FOX Nation viewer experience."
FOX NATION SADDLES UP FOR LIVE SPORTS WITH A GROUNDBREAKING NEW PBR PARTNERSHIP
PBR CEO and Commissioner Sean Gleason also commented on the partnership, saying, "We’re thrilled to build on our strong partnership with Fox Nation to deliver live coverage of Friday Night Teams and the second season of Last Cowboy Standing," which led up to Friday's event.
"The mix of athleticism, raw sport and entertainment has propelled growth for the sport’s live attendance, fan base and roster of brand partners," the release said. "PBR welcomed 1.43 million fans to its events in 2024 and its broadcasts reach more than 288 million households in 67 countries and territories."
The deal will bring Fox Nation subscribers a 10-week slate of bucking action across the United States.
The streaming platform showcased the PBR Camping World Team series' Florid Freedom Days, where the ten teams duked it out to see who could withstand a bucking bull the best.
The series kicked off Friday in Sunrise, Florida, and FOX Nation will continue weekly through the fall with 10 Friday Night Teams broadcasts nationally, culminating in the league’s championship opener on Oct. 24 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
The Florida Freedom Day opener kicked off with a pre-event concert from country music singer Chris Janson, followed by the introduction of the teams, an invocation and singing of the National Anthem, and an honor guard from the U.S. Border Patrol.
As the stage was set for the first match, the commentators laid out the rules and how scoring was done. They explained that not only does the rider get scored out of 50, but the bull does as well.
The rider must last 8 seconds on the bull to qualify and be scored. If he doesn't hit that mark, he will receive a zero. Each team had five riders each and once all had competed, the team with the best score won.
The night started off with the Missouri Thunder facing off the Nashville Stampede which was a hard-fought battle with Missouri edging out Nashville by a single point, 173.25 to 172.25. Next it was the league leaders, the Texas Rattlers, squaring off against the Carolina Cowboys, which resulted in a 169.25 to 168.50 win for Texas. Game 3 came between the Kansas City Outlaws and the Oklahoma Wildcatters with Kansas City showing a dominant 337.25 to 260.25 win.
The last two match-ups featured brought a David against Goliath face-off between the New York Mavericks and the defending champions, the Austin Gamblers. The match started off tight with the possibility of the Mavericks defeating Austin points, but eventually the Gamblers sealed the deal with a rider to go and won 340.00 to 173.00.
The final match-up of the night saw hometown favorites Florida Freedom take on the Arizona RidgeRiders, who had a 4-1 record leading into the series. The tough match came down to the wire with Florida on the cusp of handing Arizona a loss, but it was Arizona triumphant securing a 256.50 to 254.75 win on points.
After day one of the Freedom Days, The Texas Rattlers remain on top of the standings.
Tune into Fox Nation to keep up and ride along with more "PBR Friday Night Live."