PBR Teams: Freedom Days presented by Breedlove Wound Care marks the third of 12 regular-season events during the fifth PBR Teams season and the Florida Freedom’s only home event of the year. Action begins Friday, Aug. 7, at 7:45 p.m. ET, continues Saturday, Aug. 8, at 6:45 p.m. ET and concludes Sunday, Aug. 9, at 1:45 p.m. ET inside Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise, Florida.
Friday’s games will stream live and exclusively on Paramount+, while Saturday and Sunday’s competition will air on The CW. Sunday will also feature the CBS Game of the Week between the Florida Freedom and New York Mavericks at noon ET on CBS.
FREEDOM RETURN HOME
Following the opening two events of the season in Fort Collins, Colorado, and Oklahoma City, the Florida Freedom return to Amerant Bank Arena for their only home event of the 2026 regular season.
Florida enters the weekend at 3-2, ranked No. 3 in the league standings and just one game behind the Nashville Stampede and Texas Rattlers, who share matching 4-1 records. The Freedom have converted 10 of their 25 outs for a 40% riding percentage while producing a league-leading three 90-point rides.
The home team opens Friday against the Missouri Thunder before facing the winless New York Mavericks on Saturday and the Carolina Cowboys on Sunday. Florida owns a 12-4 all-time advantage against Missouri entering the weekend’s opening-night finale.
Florida went 2-1 during the 2025 edition of Freedom Days and will look to improve upon that performance while gaining ground in one of the season’s tightest championship races.
TWO TEAMS SHARE THE TOP
The Nashville Stampede and Texas Rattlers arrive in Sunrise tied atop the standings at 4-1.
Nashville surged from seventh to first following a perfect 3-0 weekend at Wildcatter Days and leads the league with 12 qualified rides and a 48% riding percentage. Texas, the only undefeated team entering Oklahoma City, suffered its first loss but remains level with Nashville in the win column at 4-1.
The two championship contenders will meet Saturday in one of the weekend’s most significant games. Nashville also faces the Austin Gamblers on Friday and New York on Sunday, while Texas opens against the Mavericks before meeting the Stampede and closing against the Arizona Ridge Riders.
With Florida, Missouri and Carolina all sitting one game behind the leaders at 3-2, the standings could shift significantly by the time the final gate cracks Sunday afternoon.
FRIDAY NIGHT FIREPOWER
Friday’s slate features five games and several matchups with immediate standings implications.
The Oklahoma Wildcatters and Kansas City Outlaws open the weekend with matching 2-3 records. Kansas City owns a narrow 4-3 advantage in the all-time series and is expected to debut No. 1 overall draft pick Hayden Welsh against Rank Hank.
The Nashville Stampede then meet the Austin Gamblers, with Austin holding a 10-6 advantage in their previous meetings. The matchup features former World Champions Kaique Pacheco and Jose Vitor Leme, who both draw familiar bovine opponents.
The Carolina Cowboys and Arizona Ridge Riders follow before the Texas Rattlers attempt to remain perfect against the New York Mavericks. Texas is 7-0 all time against New York, which enters Sunrise searching for its first victory after an 0-5 start.
The night concludes with the hometown Freedom facing Missouri in a game between two teams tied at 3-2 and separated only by the standings tiebreaker.
MVP RACE TIGHTENS
Missouri Thunder rider Paulo Eduardo Rossetto arrives in Sunrise as the leader in the 2026 PBR Teams MVP race with 269.45 points.
Rossetto holds a narrow 0.75-point advantage over Oklahoma’s Kaiden Loud, who ranks second with 268.7 points. Nashville’s Riquelmi Silva sits third with 266.6 points, while Carolina’s Thiago Salgado follows closely in fourth with 266.45 points.
The top four riders are separated by just three points entering Freedom Days, leaving the race vulnerable to a major shakeup across the three-day event.
Rossetto will open his weekend against Scrappy, a bull he covered for 88.9 points in Salt Lake City in February. Loud draws High Road, Silva faces Feeds Red River and Salgado reunites with Cowboy Playboy after riding the bull for 87.75 points in New York City in 2023.
REMATCH RECAP
Several riders will encounter familiar bovine opponents during Friday’s opening slate.
Kansas City’s Eric Henrique Domingos seeks his first qualified ride aboard Slick Rick after being bucked off in 4.32 seconds during Gambler Days last August.
Austin’s Kaique Pacheco reunites with XIT Knock Out after covering the bull for 87.9 points during Round 6 of the 2026 PBR World Finals. Teammate Jose Vitor Leme will face Flapjack for the fourth time after riding the bull in each of their first three meetings, including an 87.5-point score during the 2025 PBR World Finals: Eliminations.
Carolina’s Thiago Salgado draws Cowboy Playboy after their 87.75-point ride at Madison Square Garden in 2023.
Missouri’s Paulo Eduardo Rossetto looks to remain perfect against Scrappy following their 88.9-point meeting earlier this year, while Florida’s Alex Cerqueira reunites with Big Red after riding the bull for 74 points at Big Sky PBR in July 2025.
HOME TEAM MATCHUPS
Florida’s projected opening-night lineup features Alex Cerqueira, Austin Richardson, Boudreaux Campbell, João Lucas Campos and reigning PBR World Champion John Crimber.
João Lucas Campos is projected to face Red Reservation before Cerqueira meets Big Red. Richardson draws Feel the Magic, Campbell is matched with Bad Boy and Crimber is scheduled to close the game against Fringe Minority.
The Freedom lead the league with three 90-point rides through the opening two events and are tied with Austin for fourth in both qualified rides and riding percentage.
With Missouri bringing the league’s MVP leader into Sunrise, Friday’s finale provides an immediate test for a Florida team looking to capitalize on home dirt.
TWO DOWN, 10 TO GO
Freedom Days represents the third event of the 2026 regular season, with 10 events remaining before the PBR Teams Championship in Las Vegas in November.
Nine of the league’s 10 teams enter Sunrise separated by two games or fewer. Nashville and Texas lead at 4-1, Florida, Missouri and Carolina sit at 3-2, and Arizona, Austin, Kansas City and Oklahoma follow at 2-3. New York remains within four games of first place at 0-5.
Each team still has 30 regular-season games remaining, leaving plenty of time for the standings to shift. But with two first-place teams scheduled to meet, three clubs sitting one game back and Florida defending home dirt, Freedom Days offers another opportunity for the championship race to take shape.
Photo courtesy of Bull Stock Media