Oklahoma Freedom in PBR Teams League Relocates to Amerant Bank Arena, Competing as Florida Freedom on August 2-4

PUEBLO, Colo (November 9, 2023) – Ahead of PBR (Professional Bull Riders) Teams’ thirdseason in 2024, the bull riding league has announced the Florida Freedom, a new team based in Florida. 

The Florida Freedom had been competing as the Oklahoma Freedom based in Paycom Center in Oklahoma City, OK, for the league’s first two seasons. The team is relocating to South Florida as the Florida Freedom with their annual homestand to be held in Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise, FL, on August 2-4.

The PBR Camping World Team Series will begin its third season of five-on-five bull riding games in July, culminating with the 2024 Teams Championship in Las Vegas in late October.  

“I couldn’t be more excited to bring to Florida a professional sports team,” said Heath Freeman, owner of the Florida Freedom. “This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity with the PBR’s exponential growth.”

“Over 30 years, PBR has held a number of successful events across the state of Florida, where the sport has many loyal fans,” said PBR CEO and Commissioner Sean Gleason. “We are an international sport, and South Florida is an area of great diversity. Under Heath Freeman’s leadership, The Florida Freedom is primed to build a passionate and diverse fan base rooting for their team competing in an exciting, growing sports league.” 

The PBR Camping World Team Series completed the 2023 season averaging more than 1 million viewers per CBS broadcast, according to Neilsen. Event attendance was up 24 percent over the inaugural season. Off the dirt, the bull-riding league was also buoyed by an acclaimed docuseries, “The Ride,” streaming on Prime Video.

“We 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. “We're grateful for the opportunity to showcase our venue here in Sunrise, Fla. and encourage the South Florida community to watch the wildest 8-second ride on earth up close as this PBR league continues to grow significantly throughout the country.” 

In 2023, the Freedom finished No. 4 in the regular season with a 14-14 record. The team was led by Caden Bunch’s breakout season, successfully making the eight-second mark on 9 of his 14bulls, and rookie Elizmar Jeremias (7-for-18). The team started ranked No. 4 in the progressive elimination Championship tournament in Las Vegas, and Bunch stepped up once again, walking off the win to beat the league’s reigning Champion Nashville Stampede in Round 1. In Round 2, the Freedom fell to the eventual 2023 champion Texas Rattlers before being eliminated in the second Last Chance Game by the Missouri Thunder. 

This relocation won’t be the end of bull riding in Oklahoma City, according to PBR. Future competitions are being planned.

About the Florida Freedom:

The Florida Freedom is owned by Heath Freeman, who purchased the team in December 2022from PBR. Sports and entertainment agency Prodigal had operated the Freedom under PBR ownership during the inaugural Teams season. The Freedom is based at Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise, FL, joining team tenant the Florida Panthers hockey club, where the team will hold its inaugural Florida Freedom Days homestand on August 2-4 in the 2024 season. 

 

About the PBR Camping World Team Series:

The PBR Camping World Team Series is an elite league featuring the world’s top bull riders competing on teams in five-on-five games leading to a Team Championship at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. During the 2024 season, the league’s third, each of the eight teams – Austin Gamblers of Austin, TX; Arizona Ridge Riders of Glendale, AZ; Carolina Cowboys of Greensboro, NC;Florida Freedom of Sunrise, FL; Kansas City Outlaws of Kansas City, MO; Nashville Stampede of Nashville, TN; OK; Missouri Thunder of Ridgedale, MO; and Texas Rattlers of Fort Worth, TX– will host a homestand. Neutral-site games are held in Cheyenne, WY and Anaheim, CA. 

 

PBR Teams, launched in July 2022, builds on the existing structure of professional bull riding with the same basic rules for judging and scoring qualified 8-second bull rides. In events staged in a tournament-style format, all teams compete in head-to-head matchups against a different opponent each day. Each game features five riders per team squaring off against another team. Full team rosters are comprised of seven riders on the Protected Roster and five Reserve riders. The team with the highest aggregate score of qualified rides among its riders is declared the winner of each game. The event winner is the team with the most game wins across an event. All PBR Teams events are carried on either the CBS Television Network, streaming live on Paramount+, CBS Sports Network, or RidePass on Pluto TV.

 

PBR is part of Endeavor, a global sports and entertainment company. For more information, visit PBR.com, or follow on Facebook at Facebook.com/PBR, Twitter at Twitter.com/PBR, and YouTube at YouTube.com/PBR.