(Editor’s note: PBR media release)
PUEBLO, Colo. — CBS Sports and PBR (Professional Bull Riders) have reached a long-term rights extension, keeping CBS Sports as the exclusive television home of PBR through 2028. The new agreement increases the number of PBR broadcast hours on the CBS Television Network on a yearly basis and brings the PBR Global Cup to broadcast television.
CBS Sports, the home of PBR since 2012, will add additional broadcast hours during the 2019 season and then televise nearly 20 broadcast hours of programming each subsequent year over the course of the agreement. Broadcast coverage features multiple PBR Majors awarding riders more points and earnings – Monster Energy Bucking Battle, Iron Cowboy and Jack Daniel’s Music City Knockout – and other top events from the PBR circuit, including the Global Cup, a five-nation tournament that is the premier international bull riding competition.
CBS Sports Network will continue its season-long coverage, airing 28 events including all four Majors – with live coverage of Last Cowboy Standing – and more than 85 hours each year, opening the season at Madison Square Garden in January and closing it in Las Vegas with the PBR World Finals each November. The network crowns the overall season champion with exclusive coverage from all five nights of the World Finals, highlighted by a nightly preview show leading into each telecast.
“PBR has been a cornerstone partner within the CBS Sports family for almost a decade. It is an anchor property for CBS Sports Network and consistently delivers a strong, dedicated audience,” said Dan Weinberg, EVP of Programming, CBS Sports. “The multi-year extension allows us to build on the tremendous success we have shared on the cable side while significantly increasing our broadcast coverage, delivering the added exposure and value that only a broadcast network can. We are pleased to keep one of the most exciting and high-adrenaline sports on CBS Sports.”
“PBR’s phenomenal growth over the past decade is due in large part to our very successful CBS partnership,” said Sean Gleason, CEO, PBR. “We are thrilled to extend that relationship well into the future and are especially excited to bring fans additional hours of annual coverage on CBS Sports. The extensive coverage, invaluable reach, and top-tier credibility that CBS and CBS Sports Network delivers for our fans will anchor PBR’s growth as the original extreme sport continues to charge into the mainstream.”
PBR continues to reach new heights each year in attendance, fan engagement and television audience with a loyal and passionate fan base. In the last full season, PBR on CBS Television Network averaged more than one million viewers per broadcast.