If baseball was very, very good to Chico Escuela (young folks, Google that), the Western culture explosion continues to be very, very good to PBR.
Capitalizing on the so-called “Yellowstone Effect,” PBR is riding a Western resurgence not seen since the Urban Cowboy craze, as the toughest cowboys and most powerful bucking bulls stormed into Madison Square Garden from January 3-5. While I was in Wisconsin this past weekend and missed this year’s event for the first time in a while, it was impressive to hear and learn about the continued growth of the PBR.
PBR sold out the Garden all three days for the first time in 18 years, hosting 42,256 fans. With its secondary tour in action in Birmingham and Portland, a total of 68,245 fans attended bull riding events over the weekend, tops in the organization’s 32-year history.
Sparking local awareness that helped drive record ticket sales, PBR’s PR team leaned into the obsession with all things Western to generate features in outlets such as New York Daily News, New York Post, CBS News, Fox Business and Fox & Friends.
With 140 media members in attendance, more features tying bull riding to this cultural phenomenon are expected.
The sport’s PR team might send a case of champagne to the Hollywood executive who told then-actor Taylor Sheridan he would always be No. 11 on the call sheet, which led the insulted actor to write ‘Yellowstone’.
Another case of bubbly should go to Yellowstone, Beyonce on a White Horse, and a Sold-Out Madison Square Garden for Professional Bull Riders: Western Culture is EXPLODING for putting on a white cowboy and bedazzling cowgirl duds to perform songs from her “Cowboy Carter” country album for the NFL’s Christmas Day Halftime Show, seen by tens of millions on Netflix.
Pro bull riding has been gifted a perfect storm of favorable cultural winds. The business effects include a five-year extension with Boot Barn, announced last Friday as PBR headed into NYSE to ring the opening bell with their partner and the 2024 Teams league champion Austin Gamblers.
Retailers including Foot Locker, Walmart, Starbucks, Macy’s, Advance Auto Parts, GameStop, Walgreens, CVS, Party City, Dollar Tree and others are closing underperforming stores. Red-hot Boot Barn will open 60 more brick and mortar locations this fiscal year after 55 new stores debuted last year. Heck, a new one even opened in Paramus, NJ in December.
America sure loves its cowboy boots.
Wearing a trusted pair, PBR’s newest brand ambassador, Yellowstone actor Neal McDonough attended the sold-out events on Friday and Saturday, serving as an honorary coach of the New York Mavericks’ Friday night PBR Teams exhibition game and marveling at the sea of cowboy hats across the arena.
“I never thought I would see so many cowboy hats in New York City. Anyone who said there are no cowboys here is dead wrong!” McDonough observed in an interview shown on the jumbotron.
McDonough, now appearing in season two of Tulsa King, wrote, stars in and produced the upcoming film The Last Rodeo. PBR is a partner. Also known for roles in Band of Brothers, Tulsa King, Boomtown, Tin Man, Star Trek: First Contact and Desperate Housewives, the actor’s Western flick, which features a few PBR athletes, hits theaters around Memorial Day.
“Sociologists say this isn’t just a moment,” said PBR CMO Mark Fine. “Western fashion, music and sports are all exploding. Country music is no longer regional. It’s mainstream. It’s national.”
Fine identifies “Western Curious” as a large and still-growing fan segment now checking out the sport, helping drive double-digit PBR attendance growth last year. He says PBR’s fan base has reached 79.8 million fans and in the past year has grown significantly in key demo such as Gen Z (+45%), Hispanics (+17%) and students (+16%).
The young demos are being drawn to a crop of social media-friendly riders including World No. 1 John Crimber, a 19-year-old phenom who quietly reads his Bible in the busy locker room, leads the league in both 90-point rides and “Yes ma’am’s” during interviews then consistently spews memorable quotes while the crowd is still buzzing.
It defies business sense that the charismatic, devout-yet-hilarious rider becoming the face of a growing sport – the No. 1 PBR Teams league draft pick in 2024 by the Florida Freedom and league MVP that season – doesn’t have a major brand endorsement deal.
Crimber is one of several rising stars PBR trotted out in New York, accumulating more than 50 million social impressions. Some fun posts showed Hijinx at The Edge and riders visiting META.
Overall, in 2024 PBR hosted 1.43 million fans. With its best-ever weekend in the Big Apple, 2025 is off to a very fast start.
The 1.5 million pounds of Jersey dirt trucked into MSG that media loved talking about
has been hoovered up and returned to its rightful owner across the river.
America’s original extreme sport is off to find new dirt in Chicago. CBS Television Network will carry the action from the All-State Arena on Saturday January 11 at noon ET.
Look for a sea of cowboy hats there, too.
Is this a moment…or a permanent part of our culture?
When PBR joins UFC and WWE under TKO when that acquisition closes this year, will their grow truly get supercharged?
We shall see. Until then, PBR’s marketing and publicity team is like a dog with a juicy Western-flavored bone.
And probably looking for Beyonce’s address to send champagne.
