Inside Pro Bull Riding’s growth and marketing—and how brands are leveraging cowboy culture

For some people, it is their first rodeo. Professional Bull Riding is bringing its mix of extreme sports and cowboy hats well outside its traditional strongholds, drawing new enthusiasts and wealthy investors in places such as New York while winning the support of big brands including Yeti, Monster Energy, Cooper Tire and Michelob Ultra. Founded in 1992, PBR, as it is known today, is owned by Endeavor Group Holdings, the parent of UFC and WWE. The organization oversees two main seasons—one focused on individual riders and another one on team competition. Check out the latest Ad Age events and award programs “When you’ve got a 150-pound gladiator mounting a 2,000-pound bull, anything can happen,” Sean Gleason, CEO of PBR and a 25-year veteran of the organization, said in an interview. “That gives you a lot to work with from a marketing perspective.” PBR has 78.3 million fans in the U.S., a figure that has grown by 23.5% since 2019, according to the market research firm YouGov, based on data through March 24. While PBR is growing, it has a smaller fan base than sports leagues such as the NFL (163.7 million), MLB (138 million), NBA (131.7 million), NHL (106.7 million) and MLS (91.9 million), according to YouGov. Pro Bull Riding is growing in popularity. (Click image enlarge) Pro bull riding drew 1.25 million fans to its live events in 2023, and aggregate TV viewership surpassed 40 million viewers. PBR events are carried by CBS, the CBS Sports Network and Pluto TV, with TelevisaUnivision broadcasting in Spanish. A combination of factors is fueling PBR's growth, experts say, including the Western culture movement and amped-up live events with pyrotechnics and music. But PBR is also playing to broad trends in sports: It’s fast, athletic and dangerous, with 8-second highlights and end-over-end wipeouts perfect for social media consumption. PBR’s owned social media channels increased their following by 33% last year, led by 633% increase in Instagram video views, according to PBR. On TikTok, the hashtag #pbr has gathered a substantial following, with 11 billion views globally in the 120 days ended April 1, with 1 million views and 22,000 posts in the last 30 days. View this post on Instagram A post shared by PBR (@pbr) PBR has two main seasons: Unleash the Beast is the individual rider championship with 23 events running from December until May. It is named for sponsor Monster Energy, which sells an alcoholic drink called The Beast Unleashed. PBR Teams, sponsored by Camping World, begins in July and runs until November. PBR also runs the Velocity and Challenger series, where young riders can qualify for spots on the main circuits. If it’s not exactly Formula 1 on the back of a bucking animal, PBR shares some characteristics with that racing spectacle, said Gabe Ottolini, VP, business intelligence, for the sports agency Excel Sports Management. “We know that individual athletes and influencers are really culturally relevant these days, oftentimes moreso than teams,” Ottolini said. “And yet, you have the team component that is engaging in major markets, and those are in smartly picked key cities. .... So you have multiple points of entry and connection, you have fast-paced, high-octane content. And then you have likable, approachable personalities in the riders.” ‘Wrangle the moment’ PBR’s growth reached a new pitch in 2022, when it established the Teams circuit and shifted its marketing from a regional to national perspective, said Gleason. The teams format is opening bull riding to new audiences and geographies like New York. Leaning into the Western culture revival, PBR last year hired “Yellowstone” actor Cole Hauser as a brand ambassador. “We’re winning a lot of fans by putting the product in front of them,” Gleason said. “But to scale that up, we recognized we needed a broader, national appeal." In a short film airing on social media and on PBR broadcasts, Hauser delivers a patriotic message of bull riding’s place in American culture. Part of the national push included “The Ride,” a documentary-style series focused on the 2022 PBR Teams season which aired on Amazon’s Prime Video last year. Gleason said a second season is planned but a media partner for it has not been finalized. As it stepped up its marketing, PBR in 2023 hired 160/90 as its agency of record. PBR and 160/90, which before last year worked together on a project basis, share a common parent in Endeavor, which acquired PBR in 2015. (Endeavor this week announced a $13 billion agreement to be acquired by private equity firm Silver Lake in a deal that does not include TKO Group Holdings, which controls WWE and UFC.) The agency’s work is built around an underlying theme of “Wrangle the Moment,” said Ryan Brown, 160/90’s senior VP of branding. New marketing looks to reach existing PBR fans but also “Western curious” consumers and culture seekers turned on by a sport that’s “visceral and not so predictable,” Brown said. A new “Take the Ride” ad promotes the forthcoming Teams season. The media buy has included showings during the NCAA Tournament’s Elite Eight games on CBS and TBS, along with out-of-home, streaming, digital, social and print activations. Another ad shows only a QR code and a stopwatch, accompanied by audio of successful and unsuccessful bull rides. Recalling Coinbase’s 2022 Super Bowl ad, the QR code takes viewers to a PBR web page where they can enter to win a trip to the Teams final in Las Vegas. Gleason said the goal of the ongoing campaign is to take PBR’s message to “the casual or unsuspecting fan.” The QR code was “resonating extremely well, and we’re capturing a lot of unique names and data from that campaign,” he added. “That’s something I never would have tried before [hiring 160/90].” PBR had $5 million in measured media spending in 2023, up from $3 million in 2022, according to Vivvix, including paid social from Pathmatics. Western trend Brown traces the new Western movement to the pandemic, when quarantined TV viewers absorbed “Yellowstone,” the Paramount Network drama set on a Montana ranch starring Kevin Costner. “They were just discovering new areas, having a bit of a fantasy … and escapism,” he said. “And I think that that had a lot to do with where some broader amplification, broader reach could go from an audience standpoint.” While “Yellowstone” is headed for its final episodes, the Western culture movement is going strong through a diverse, Gen Z-led interpretation of familiar country tropes, according to Horizon Media’s Gen Z Subculture Field Guide, published in November. Beyoncé’s “Country Carter” album dropped on March 29. Crossover collaborations are gaining new fans including Gwen Stefani and Carly Pearce performing “Just a Girl” on the CMT Music Awards, and Tracy Chapman and Luke Combs’ “Fast Car” on the Grammy Awards. Zach Bryan’s recent concert in New York drew an on-stage appearance by Bruce Springsteen (who dropped his own Western album in 2019). And the Black woman-led country band Chapel Hart has soared to fame after appearing on “America’s Got Talent.” @the_robin5ons The Cutest Cowgirls In Town 🤠🤠🤠🐄 @Beyoncé @MsTinaKnowles #cowgirls #triplets #sisters #viral #foryoupage #trending #toddlersoftiktokfyp #beyoncechallenge #viralvideos #cutekid #fyp #texasholdem ♬ TEXAS HOLD 'EM - Beyoncé Brands with Western cachet such as Coors Banquet and Lone River Ranch Water have seen their fortunes rise with the Western trend while others, like FootJoy, are using Western themes in their advertising. On TikTok, there have been nearly 200,000 posts with the #cowgirl hashtag in the last 12 months, with 1 billion views over that period. PBR itself deserves some credit for the Western revival, Gleason said. “I think we had as much to do with it as anybody did—we’ve been pounding this thing for 31 years.” Sponsors PBR currently has 68 sponsors, excluding team sponsors, according to sponsor consultancy SponsorUnited. Its event title sponsors over the last year have included Beatbox Beverages, Walmart, Pendleton Whiskey and Hard Rock Café. Its most active sponsors measured by marketing activity are Monster Energy, the western wear brand Ariat, Cooper Tire, Tractor Supply Co. and Kubota. Anheuser-Busch InBev was named a national PBR marketing sponsor this year, focusing on its above-premium Michelob Ultra—a brand that might not normally be associated with rodeo. Other beers that have supported PBR over the years include mainstream selections like Coors, Pabst Blue Ribbon (naturally) and Bud Light, which was the circuit’s first title sponsor in a deal that began in 1993. “They were firm believers in what we were doing and helped us not only build the sport, but pay the first million-dollar bonus to Western sports athlete,” Gleason said of Bud Light. “Without Bud Light and Anheuser-Busch, I honestly don’t know that we’d be here today.” While Bud Light had a specific agenda with PBR—winning share of the cowboy beer market from rivals Coors and Coors Light—Michelob Ultra can be seen as a signal of where the sport is going. PBR’s fans on average have a slightly higher disposable income and buying power than overall rodeo fans, Gleason said, and the faster-growing Ultra will play in new cities like Chicago and New York. “It’s the right brand fit for us right now,” Gleason said. “We can help them move the needle with new customers.” AB InBev did not provide comment. Traditional rural and Western brands remain well represented. Camping World, the RV and camping goods retailer and title sponsor of PBR Teams, joined PBR last year after departing from a lengthy run as a key Nascar partner. PBR’s deal with Tractor Supply Co. calls for branded sets for its CBS broadcasts. Teams and riders have their own brand deals, many with Western and workwear apparel brands like Ariat, Rank 45 and Brunt. Bull rider Ezekiel “Blue” Mitchell has a deal with Pernod Ricard-owned TX whiskey and previously appeared as a model in an Arby's campaign. View this post on Instagram A post shared by The Stacked House of Style (@thestackedhouseofstyle) Bulls, whose statistics are also recorded over the course of the season, have marketing help too. The outdoor products brand Yeti awards the circuit’s top-scoring bull with a $100,000 bonus for their owner (Yeti also presents an award to the bull voted fan favorite). It pays to be fierce: just like riders, bulls need to score their way into the top series. But as it has grown, PBR has had to defend itself against allegations that the sport is cruel to animals. These “lies and misinformation,” are best treated with education, Gleason said. “We celebrate our remarkable animal athletes, give them great care, and treat them with utmost respect,” he said. “PBR bulls are born to buck. It’s in their DNA. Counter to the lies, there is no negative stimulation. The bulls are not shocked or tortured.” Value over luxury PBR’s audience characteristics can play to an efficient advertising spend, said Ottolini. “When we’re working with brands, we always try to identify areas [where] the higher the audience alignment, the more efficient your dollars are going to work, and we’ve found within PBR that’s a consistent theme,” Ottolini said. “This group, for example, drives pickup trucks at an abnormally high rate. So if you’re selling things around outdoors, or pickup trucks, you can hit a higher concentration with this audience than a lot of other alternatives.” The PBR audience also has an affinity for fast food, Ottolini added. “They’re interested in value over luxury, whereas a lot of the other major sport audiences maybe tend to gravitate to luxury over value,” Ottolini said. “Aspects like that offer more unique opportunities for audience engagement.” Gleason said PBR has worked hard to earn the trust of sponsors, being “creative” in its approach to turning bull riding fans into fans of partnering brands. Two sponsors, Wrangler and the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, have been with PBR for 31 years. “Our fans recognize that the brands that invest in the sport are helping to fund the lives and careers of bulls and riders that they love,” he said. Meet the riders PBR counts 2.5 million followers on Instagram and 2.1 million on TikTok. Much of its content on these sites highlights the circuit’s riders. “Part of my job over the last 20 years has been to get as many of our athletes to really transcend the PBR brand to become bigger celebrities and brand than our core PBR brand,” Gleason said. “We’re seeing a little bit of that and we’re constantly at work on it. But it’s still mostly a voyage of discovery for people to understand the brand first, then dive into details and nuances of who competes.” If PBR has a Patrick Mahomes, it may be Mitchell. The flamboyant Texan—a rare Black performer in the sport—has said he’d like to be the “Dwayne Johnson of PBR.” Mitchell, whose story was a focus of “The Ride,” maintains sizable TikTok (374,000) and Instagram (118,000) followings. Viewers of “The Ride” will also get to know athletes including Daylon Swearingen, Boudreaux Campbell, Eli Vastbinder, Jose Vitor Leme and Chase Outlaw. This year, rookie John Crimber is upstaging nearly everyone. The diminutive 18-year-old son of bull riding legend Paulo Crimber brings youthful energy and eye-popping rides to the circuit. As of this writing, Crimber was in second place to Brazilian Cassio Dias in the Unleash the Beast overall standings. @pbr Ladies and gentlemen, John Crimber #pbr #utb #bullrider #cowboy #johncrimber ♬ original sound - PBR What’s ahead Endeavor in its annual report said the addition of the Teams event helped PBR contribute to a 36.3% increase in revenue last year from its Owned Sports Properties division, which in addition to PBR includes UFC, WWE and Euroleague basketball. PBR is not nearly the size of those entities, contributing just $13 million of the division’s $483.5 million in revenue last year. The eight franchises in PBR’s Teams inaugural competition in 2022 were established for a $3 million fee. This year, expansion clubs in Oklahoma and New York are each ponying up $22.5 million to join. The New York Mavericks, owned by Marc Lasry’s Avenue Sports Fund, will host a homestand in August at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. The Oklahoma Wildcatters are owned by LIV golfer Talor Gooch. @ny_mavericks New York has a new team to cheer for!!! 🔥The Ride Starts Here🔥 Get excited, the New York Mavericks are joining PBR TEAM SERIES!! #pbr #cowboy #TakeTheRide ♬ original sound - New York Mavericks PBR is not entirely new to New York City—an annual event at Madison Square Garden has become a hit after a lot of hard work in promotion, including parading bulls in Times Square, said Gleason. The organization is expanding internationally, with tours in Canada, Brazil and Australia. Off the dirt, PBR has expanded into the hospitality space with PBR Cowboy Bar locations in 15 cities, run in partnership with the real estate group The Cordish Companies. PBR “seems like a bit of a phenomenon to an outsider,” Gleason said. “But for somebody like myself, that's been doing this for 25 years, it didn’t just happen one day, it’s been a lot of hard work. A lot of pushing the rock up the hill every day until it gets lighter and lighter and starts rolling down the other side on its own. And I think we’re really at a point now where the momentum is shifting in favor of people discovering us, instead of us having to discover them.” Sign up for Ad Age newsletters From influencer marketing to agencies, get the latest news and analysis delivered to your inbox Click here

Inside Pro Bull Riding’s growth and marketing—and how brands are leveraging cowboy culture

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