South Florida’s new team of bull riders, the Florida Freedom, are making their debut this weekend in Sunrise.
You can watch the team take on the New York Mavericks, Oklahoma Wildcatters and Missouri Thunder in “their inaugural homestand” at the Amerant Bank Arena, an event that’ll run from Friday, Aug. 2, to Sunday, Aug. 4.
The team is relocating to Florida from Oklahoma City, where they competed as the Oklahoma Freedom.
The Florida Freedom, under the leadership of 2024 Ring of Honor inductee Paulo Crimber, compete in the Professional Bull Riding Teams league, formed in 2022, which turned bull riding from an individual sport into one where riders compete on teams.
According to Crimber, “expect to see the best bull riders in the world against the best bulls in the world. It’s going to be a lot of excitement.”
Crimber coaches his son, John Crimber, who the team selected with the No.1 overall pick in the 2024 PBR Teams New Rider Draft. At just 18 years old, John Crimber finished No. 2 in the race for the 2024 PBR World Championship this past May.
This year is John Crimber’s first time competing with a team, an experience he is excited to kick off in the Sunshine State.
“It’s pretty fun because whenever a guy goes out there on your team and stays on, it fires the guy up, especially me,” he said. “I like going last because I like watching all my teammates go out there and stay on — it makes me want to do good too.”
The league, with 10 teams across the country, will begin its third four-month season of five-on-five bull-riding matches in July, culminating with the 2024 Teams Championship in Las Vegas in late October. The PBR Camping World Team Series league is broadcast nationally on CBS.
“It’s how hard the bull bucks, and how well the rider rides him,” Paulo Crimber said. “It’s almost like a dance. You’ve got to match every move — be smooth.”
It’s not lost on the team that they’ll be in Sunrise, where the Florida Panthers have long played: “The Panthers brought the cup this year, and we want to bring it home also and maybe we’ll make you guys proud,” Crimber said.
Crimber, originally from Brazil, says the South Florida environment reminds him and his team of “home.”
“It’s the coconut trees, the mango trees, the birds,” he said. “They’re so impressed and excited about seeing it. That’s what makes it so special — how everybody feels home.”
The Freedom’s current roster includes Alex Cerqueira, from Iguatemi, and Thiago Salgado, from Naviraí, both in the state of Mato Grosso do Sul, in southern Brazil. They ride alongside World Finals qualifiers Caden Bunch, Casey Roberts and Conner Halverson.
The Freedom finished the 2023 regular season in fourth place with a 14-14 record. The team was led by Caden Bunch’s breakout campaign, successfully making the eight-second mark on nine of his 14 bulls, and rookie Elizmar Jeremias (7-for-18).
Other teams include the Nashville Stampede, Kansas City Outlaws, Austin Gamblers, Texas Rattlers (based in Fort Worth), Arizona Ridge Riders (Glendale), Carolina Cowboys (Greensboro, N.C.) and Missouri Thunder (Ridgedale).
More than 800 bull riders from around the world — including the United States, Australia, Brazil, Canada and Mexico — are members of PBR. The PBR World Finals champion receives a golden world championship belt buckle and a $1 million prize. For more information, visit PBR.com.
Tickets for the event can be bought for individual days starting at $30 as well as a three-day package starting at $99. Advance parking for $40 is available for purchase on SeatGeek.com. Doors open 60 to 90 minutes before showtime.
The Amerant Bank Arena is now cashless and enforces a “no bag policy, only small clutches 4”x 6” and under will be permitted,” according to its website.
The Florida Freedom is owned by Heath Freeman, who bought the team in December 2022. Freeman is also chairman of Tribune Publishing, the parent company of the South Florida Sun Sentinel.
“I couldn’t be more excited to bring to Florida a professional sports team,” Freeman said in a statement last year. “This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity with the PBR’s exponential growth.”
Staff writer Ben Crandell contributed to this news article.
