PBR Teams: Ridge Rider Days presented by Energy Transfer marks the 10th event of the 2026 PBR Teams season as all 10 teams head to Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale, Arizona. Action begins Thursday, Oct. 8, at 7:45 p.m. MT, continues Friday, Oct. 9, at 7:45 p.m. MT and concludes Saturday, Oct. 10, at 6:45 p.m. MT.
Thursday’s first three games — Oklahoma vs. Nashville, Texas vs. Carolina and Kansas City vs. Florida — will stream live and exclusively on Paramount+ beginning at 10:45 p.m. ET. Thursday’s final two games, New York vs. Missouri and Austin vs. Arizona, will air Saturday, Oct. 10, on CBS beginning at 1 p.m. ET.
Friday’s first three games — Carolina vs. New York, Missouri vs. Texas and Kansas City vs. Nashville — will stream live and exclusively on Paramount+ beginning at 11 p.m. ET. Friday’s final two games, Austin vs. Florida and Oklahoma vs. Arizona, will air Sunday, Oct. 11, on CBS beginning at 3 p.m. ET.
Saturday’s five-game finale will air Sunday, Oct. 11, on The CW beginning at 12:30 p.m. ET.
THE FINAL THREE BEGIN IN GLENDALE
Three regular-season events remain.
That is all that separates PBR Teams from the Championship in Las Vegas.
Missouri enters Ridge Rider Days still holding the No. 1 position at 18-8 after going 2-1 in Fort Worth, but the Thunder no longer have much room to look over their shoulder.
Austin, Nashville and Carolina all arrive in Glendale at 16-10, just two games back.
The Gamblers own the tiebreaker and sit No. 2 after a perfect 3-0 weekend at Rattler Days, while Nashville dropped to No. 3 after losing all three games in Fort Worth. The defending Champion Carolina Cowboys sit No. 4.
Texas follows at No. 5 at 14-12.
Then the standings get crowded.
Arizona is No. 6 at 11-15, while Kansas City, New York and Florida are all 10-16. Oklahoma sits last at 9-17.
That means only two games separate Arizona from Oklahoma with nine regular-season games remaining.
The race for first is tightening.
So is the race everywhere else.
HOME DIRT COMES AT THE RIGHT TIME FOR ARIZONA
The Arizona Ridge Riders return to Desert Diamond Arena at 11-15 after a 1-2 weekend in Fort Worth.
Arizona remains one game ahead of Kansas City, New York and Florida and two ahead of Oklahoma, making its three-game homestand an opportunity to create some separation before the road reaches Las Vegas.
It will not come easily.
Arizona opens Thursday against No. 2 Austin, welcomes No. 10 Oklahoma on Friday and closes its homestand Saturday against No. 3 Nashville.
The Ridge Riders’ projected Thursday lineup features Everton Natan da Silva, Eduardo Aparecido, Nick Tetz, Elizmar Jeremias and newly acquired Cody Jesus.
Da Silva enters Glendale No. 4 in the MVP standings with 1,317 points and tied for fourth in PBR Teams with 15 qualified rides.
Arizona will need him against an Austin team arriving on one of the league’s hottest runs.
The Gamblers have won five straight and nine of their last 10 games, climbing to No. 2 at 16-10 and within two games of Missouri.
Jose Vitor Leme enters Glendale with a league-best 1,951 MVP points, 22 qualified rides and an 88% riding percentage.
Home dirt may offer Arizona an opportunity.
Austin is bringing very little room for error.
FORT WORTH SET A HIGH BAR
Rattler Days did not send PBR Teams quietly into Glendale.
Two-time PBR World Champion Jess Lockwood turned back the clock with a 93.90-point ride for Carolina, the highest-scored ride of the 2026 PBR Teams season and the second-best score of his PBR career across all levels and formats.
The bulls answered Sunday.
King Tut was marked 47.20 points before Fire Zone raised the bar again at 47.40, producing the two highest bull scores of the Teams season within the same finale.
Lockwood is back in Carolina’s projected lineup Thursday when the Cowboys meet Texas in Game 2, drawing a familiar opponent in Love County.
He is already 1-for-1 against the bull after an 89-point ride in Anaheim last July.
The Cowboys arrive in Glendale tied with Austin and Nashville at 16-10, giving Carolina its own opportunity to turn last weekend’s fireworks into a late push toward the top of the standings.
REMATCH RECAP
Thursday’s opening slate brings another collection of familiar rider-bull matchups.
Nashville’s Rogério Venâncio gets another shot at TNT after the bull bucked him off in 6.59 seconds earlier this season in Oklahoma City.
Texas’ Dawson Branton looks to remain perfect against Uncles Brother after an 83.40-point ride at a Challenger Series event in June, while Carolina’s Clay Guiton is 1-for-1 against Mystified following an 87-point ride at Freedom Days.
Adriano Salgado will also see Fringe Minority again after earning a re-ride in their first meeting in February 2024.
Kansas City’s Sandro Batista looks to go 2-for-2 against Young Buck after an 87.05-point ride earlier this season in Oklahoma City.
Florida’s Murilo Henrique de Oliveira also enters Thursday perfect against his opponent, Rank Hank, after covering him for 85.25 points at Rattler Days last season.
Ethan Winckler, meanwhile, gets another chance at undefeated Fire Fight, which sent him to the dirt in 3.67 seconds at Outlaw Days last year.
Missouri MVP contender Paulo Eduardo Rossetto knows his Thursday opponent particularly well.
Rossetto is 2-for-2 against Cookie, first riding him for 86.75 points at the 2025 PBR Teams Championship before making the whistle again at the 2026 PBR World Finals: Unleash The Beast.
The opening night concludes with Austin and Arizona, where Leme draws Take Down and da Silva meets Husky.
With three regular-season events remaining, four teams within two games of first and five teams separated by only two games across the bottom half of the standings, Glendale arrives with very little room left to give away.
Photo courtesy of Bull Stock Media