No BS: New professional bull-riding team Florida Freedom coming to South Florida
Just when you thought South Florida had all the bull it could handle, we’re getting some more — the real deal, imported from Oklahoma.
Professional Bull Riders Inc. has announced that the Florida Freedom will begin competing in the PBR Camping World Team Series league next season, debuting Aug. 2 to 4 at Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise, home of the Florida Panthers.
The league, with eight teams across the country, will begin its third 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.
South Florida’s newest team will be relocating from Oklahoma City, where they competed as the Oklahoma Freedom.
The Florida Freedom is owned by Heath Freeman, who bought the team last December. 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. “This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity with the PBR’s exponential growth.”
For their part, the Florida Panthers “are thrilled to have the Florida Freedom choose Amerant Bank Arena as the new home for their exciting PBR Teams homestand,” said Florida Panthers Chief Operating Officer Bryce Hollweg.
If cowboys riding 1,500-pound bulls for eight seconds (usually less) seems a little disconnected from the culture of South Florida, you don’t know professional bull riding, which features many competitors from Brazil.
In fact, 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 are joined by two teammates from the state of São Paulo in Alisson de Souza, from Taubaté, and Marcelo de Souza Dias Junior, from Assis.
“Over 30 years, PBR has held a number of successful events across the state of Florida, where the sport has many loyal fans,” PBR CEO and Commissioner Sean Gleason said. “We are an international sport, and South Florida is an area of great diversity.”
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 bonus. For more information, visit PBR.com.
Staff writer Ben Crandell can be reached at bcrandell@sunsentinel.com. Follow on Instagram @BenCrandell and Twitter @BenCrandell.
