With the rest of the sports world on pause, sidelined by a dangerous global pandemic, one sport has returned to competition, and with the steps they took may have provided a pretty thorough best practice of what we may see on courses, courts and fields in the coming weeks.
PBR (Professional Bull Riders) was back in action last weekend in Oklahoma with a closed-to-fans, made-for-TV event produced by a skeleton crew, following a five-week Coronavirus-caused hiatus.
No fans were in attendance, and social distancing, functional separation and other safety measures were in full force as the cowboys of the PBR laid a blueprint for a safe and responsible return for sports doing TV events.
If you watched SportsCenter, read the New York Times or saw the lead story on Sunday’s CBS Evening News, you’re aware that one pro sport was back.
If you hadn’t heard, it’s because PBR, usually screaming for attention in a positive way, took a low-key approach instead of going out and beating flannel-shirted chests.
With all other sports on pause, PBR understood the gravity of descending upon Logan County, Oklahoma, where folks aren’t allowed to attend church, for a bull riding event.
As riders, stock contractors and crew stayed sequestered on the grounds of the 1,100-acre Lazy E, sleeping in RVs, the organization was careful to set the right tone and explain a comprehensive series of protocols approved by three layers of government.
With America facing its longest food relief lines in 100 years, PBR Commissioner Sean Gleason says the cowboys of the PBR – and the rest of America – need to use every ounce of determination and ingenuity to plan to get back to business in a safe and responsible way.
He and his team worked long hours for 40 days on protocols that went right up to Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt, a fastidious plan that would return to work cowboys, bull stock contractors and crew members who don’t get paid if PBR doesn’t compete. (Unlike other professional sports, PBR athletes are not on salaried contract; they’re paid when they hold on for 8 seconds).
Other sports charting a comeback will likewise need to be lockstep with government and health authorities.
PBR, which has been contacted by more than a dozen leagues and governing bodies asking for its plan, broke down its safety protocols:
- All competitors and crew went through thorough daily medical screening in order to entering the Lazy E grounds. PBR tested for both presence of virus (all tests were negative) and antibodies. Food and other supplies entering the grounds were screened and sanitized.
- The event was scaled down for a skeleton-crew production, including use of robotic cameras, relocating judges and TV announcers, reducing the number of support personnel and stock contractors, and foregoing standard production elements such as pyrotechnics and videoboard.
- Every participant on site was assigned to a functional group no group larger than 10 people (and averaging 6.5 people) to ensure limited interactions. All wore color-coded badges and wristbands at all times.
- Social distancing guidelines and self-isolation policies were set for travel and lodging, severely limiting any contact with anyone in the local Logan County or surrounding Oklahoma community. Everyone drove to the venue, avoiding air travel and public transportation. They all stayed in RVs on the grounds of Lazy E.
- Each of the 140 people on site signed a social responsibility pledge to abide by workflow, process, hygiene, sanitary and separation guidelines.
In advising other leagues, PBR cited the creation of the functional groups as the most important ingredient for creating the necessary separation at a closed sporting event.
The organization identified every single point of contact where staff and bull riders would be interacting. They then worked backwards to create functional groups and put protocols in place for social distancing at all times except a few times during competition.
In this sport, the main point of physical contact is in the bucking chutes, when the rider settles onto a 1,800-pound beast bred to buck inside a steel cage. It’s one of the most dangerous places in sports, and riders get help from a band of brothers who compete more against the bulls than one another. Those who are among the 1.2 million people who watch the usual PBR on CBS broadcast know that the crowded chutes can be a free for all.
In the bucking chutes, the essential roles are a person to “pull the rope” (which does not harm the bull, and contrary to myth, goes nowhere near its testicles), and spot the rider from being tossed into the cage’s walls. PBR created functional groups of six – five riders and a “flank man” to manage the mayhem in the chutes.
While each flank man normally works across an entire event, interacting with dozens of cowboys and bulls, PBR assigned one flank man exclusively to each group of riders. They wore gloves and masks. PBR cleaned and sanitized after every section of a half dozen rides. The doors were open and fans were blowing as the league worked to keep the environment safe and sterile
Bull riders wore facial coverings as well. (The masks were optional while on a bull, but mandatory everywhere else.) When fans seeing the masks on CBS and Ridepass started asking for them, PBR made them available on PBRShop.com, donating one mask to a healthcare worker for each one sold.
Crew used respirators the league produced on its 3-D printer back at headquarters in Pueblo, a brilliant idea from IT systems administrator Brandon Reeves.
On site, PBR was fortunate to find a great partner in the Lazy E, with over 1,000 acres of space and nearly 500 RV spots, ensuring everyone could stay on site and not mix with the community.
Once PBR was assured through testing nobody had the virus, of course, a tremendous relief, they could close the gates of the Lazy E and create the “bubble” every sport – whether it’s Disney or baseball in Arizona – is trying to replicate.
While CBS Sports Network is not Nielsen-rated, PBR’s social numbers exploded over the weekend.
Total PBR social media impressions were 12.3 million, +86% over Little Rock (March 7-8), the league’s most recent event before mass gathering restrictions were put in place. Total video views from the no-fan event in Oklahoma were 2.09 million (+78%).
On Facebook, PBR generated 6 million total impressions, which doubled Little Rock, and 929,000 video views during the weekend (+79%). On Instagram, the sport generated 5.6 million impressions compared to Little Rock’s 3.3 million (+69%), and 1.1. million video views compared to 613,000 (+79%).
With the Lazy E set up for competition, PBR plans to return with closed televised events on May 9-10 and then May 16-17.
Gleason’s team realizes anything may change in a global pandemic. Viruses can mutate. Second waves can come. For now, with its 29-page plan shared with other leagues charting their way back, and RV spots at the Lazy E waiting to be filled, they vow to continue to cowboy up and buck the virus.
