PBR Teams: Gambler Days presented by Tecovas marks the fifth event of the 2026 PBR Teams season as the league heads to Austin, Texas. Action begins Friday, Aug. 21, at 7:45 p.m. CT, continues Saturday, Aug. 22, at 6:15 p.m. CT and concludes Sunday, Aug. 23, at 1:45 p.m. CT inside Moody Center.
Friday’s opening two games will stream live on Paramount+ beginning at 8:45 p.m. ET, while all five games Saturday will air live on The CW beginning at 7:30 p.m. ET.
Sunday features a PBR Teams tripleheader on CBS beginning at noon ET, with the Missouri Thunder taking on the Texas Rattlers, followed by the Nashville Stampede against the Kansas City Outlaws and concluding with the hometown Austin Gamblers hosting the Florida Freedom. The final day of competition will also air live on The CW beginning at 3 p.m. ET.
HOME SWEET HOME
The Austin Gamblers return to Moody Center looking to make their move.
Austin enters Gambler Days at 5-6 and No. 6 in the PBR Teams standings, but the Gamblers remain within striking distance of the No. 2 position entering their only homestand of the 2026 regular season.
The Gamblers will have three opportunities to make up ground on home dirt, beginning Friday against the Florida Freedom before facing the Texas Rattlers on Saturday and Carolina Cowboys on Sunday.
Austin’s projected lineup features Dalton Kasel, Dener Barbosa, Jose Vitor Leme, Kaique Pacheco and Sage Steele Kimzey, giving the hometown team a veteran-heavy group for the first of its three games at Moody Center.
With the season reaching its fifth event and the standings still packed behind the leaders, a strong weekend in Austin could send the Gamblers climbing quickly.
LEME LEADS THE HOME CHARGE
The Gamblers’ push through the standings will once again run through Jose Vitor Leme.
The three-time PBR World Champion enters his home event as one of Austin’s anchors and headlines a lineup loaded with proven talent alongside Dalton Kasel, Dener Barbosa, Kaique Pacheco and Sage Steele Kimzey.
Leme has been at the center of the 2026 PBR Teams MVP race throughout the opening month of the season, giving Austin one of the league’s most dangerous weapons each time he climbs into the bucking chute.
He also enters Gambler Days three 90-point rides shy of Chris Shivers’ all-time record of 94, meaning the kind of three-for-three, 90-point weekend Leme has shown he is capable of could leave him tied with the two-time World Champion on home dirt.
Now, he gets three games at Moody Center as the Gamblers try to turn their 5-6 start into a climb up the standings.
REMATCH RECAP
Several riders will encounter familiar bovine opponents during Friday’s opening slate.
New York’s Manoelito de Souza Junior reunites with Washita Red after the pair combined for 84.8 points at PBR Florida State in March.
Carolina’s Jess Lockwood gets another opportunity against All Magic, who bucked him off in their lone previous meeting during Wildcatter Days earlier this season.
New York’s Marco Rizzo also draws a familiar opponent in El Chapo. Rizzo covered the bull for 88.2 points in Billings, Montana, in April and will look to remain perfect against him when the Mavericks meet the Carolina Cowboys Friday.
AUSTIN’S ROAD THROUGH THE WEEKEND
The Gamblers will see three different contenders come through the home locker room at Moody Center.
Friday’s matchup with Florida gives Austin its first chance to establish momentum at home, while Saturday’s showdown with the Rattlers adds another chapter to the Texas rivalry. Then comes Carolina, the defending champs.
For the Gamblers, three games at Moody Center represent three chances to move closer to the front of the pack.
At 5-6, Austin does not need to look far up the standings to see opportunity.
And there may be no better place to make its move than home.
Photo courtesy of Bull Stock Media