Out of the Chute: Expansion and New Rider Drafts Set the Stage for the 2024 Season Carolina Cowboys Find Themselves in the Thick of the Action

There are different ways to determine how well a professional sports league in their infancy is growing and on the path to viability and long-term success. Expansion is one of the surest signs that a league is getting its feet under themselves. For the Camping World Professional Bull Riders Team Series, they took the first steady steps with the addition of the New York Mavericks and Oklahoma Wildcatters. These two new teams will join the original eight teams when the 2024 season begins July 12-14 with Wildcatter Days in Oklahoma City, OK. Before the new teams could debut, they obviously needed riders.

On April 10th, the PBR Team Series held their first expansion draft. Fitting of an unconventional league, the expansion draft was part roster building, part swap meet, part draft lottery. By the end of the festivities, the two expansion teams had six riders each, existing teams swung deals with their new siblings attempting to bolster each roster, and the draft order for the New Rider Draft to be held on May 29th in Nashville, TN was set. The Carolina Cowboys were in the middle of all activity.

Unlike traditional expansion drafts where the teams’ alternate picks until they have filled their rosters, each team made one selection to start the process. Oklahoma won a coin toss and received the first selection and New York went second and third. The teams then alternated, making two picks in a row until each team had chosen six riders. The teams were able to select from 35 players from current rosters that were left unprotected. They were also able to draw from a pool of over 100 unrestricted free agents from all over the world. The original teams could protect three riders. Unprotected riders were evaluated and given a score as determined by a panel of general managers and head coaches. The score would then correspond to the number of ping pong balls the team losing a rider would receive in the New Rider Draft lottery that occurred at the end of the evening. Another twist was that an existing franchise would receive a compensation pick in a draft that would be conducted between the expansion draft and the draft lottery.

For the expansion draft, the Cowboys elected to protect riders Cooper Davis, Daylon Swearingen, and last year’s first overall draft pick Sage Kimzey. That left exposed riders Tate Pollmeier, Derek Kolbaba, Arthur Antonialle, and last year’s second overall selection, Josh Frost. Unsurprisingly, Frost was selected 4th overall by Oklahoma. He received a grade of 1 by the evaluation panel. This provided the Cowboys with 24 ping pong balls that would determine the top pick in the New Rider Draft. In the compensation draft, the Cowboys received the fourth pick and selected unrestricted free agent Dawson Branton of Jefferson, OR.

The Wildcatters started the party in wild fashion by taking 2018 PBR World Champion Kaique Pacheco, of Brazil, from the Nashville Stampede. Pacheco was the 2nd overall selection in the initial PBR Draft in 2022. Often the first pick in an expansion draft is taken with the intention of building the new franchise around the player drafted. For Pacheco, he did not even have time to try on any Oklahoma swag. Before the expansion draft was over, he was dealt to the Austin Gamblers in exchange for Cort McFadden and Austin Richardson.

The Mavericks also took a rider out of Brazil for their first pick by drafting Arizona Ridge Riders’ Vitor Losnake second overall. New York did not trade any of their picks. When the team gathers to begin the season, communication should not be an issue. All six Maverick selections are natives of Brazil. Their roster is younger and less experienced than the Wildcatters. The two approaches are frequently seen in expansion drafts. One team, in this case Oklahoma, seeks older and proven talent in hopes of making a quick splash and competing for playoff spots quickly. The other approach, as evidenced by New York, is to build slowly, employing higher-end, inexperienced talent, striving for long-term, sustained success.

When New York and Oklahoma had filled their rosters and the existing teams had made their compensation picks, it was time for the draft lottery. Like all draft lotteries, the PBR lottery was carried out via a weighted lottery. Teams would have ping pong balls in the hopper based on the number of players drafted in the expansion draft and their value determined by the evaluation panel. The prize in this lottery was unrestricted free agent John Crimber, the second ranked rider in the PBR Unleash the Beast Standings.

The Florida Freedom was the fortunate team to have the winning ping pong ball selected. Crimber is guaranteed to be selected first overall according to Freedom Head Coach Paulo Crimber, the man who has been scouting John since birth. The Cowboys ended up with the fifth pick in the first round. There are dozens of desirable riders in this draft pool and uncertainty abounds at picks two, three, and four. Although they might not express so publicly, General Manager Austin Dillon and Head Coach Jerome Davis could be hoping to find Cherryville, NC native Clay Guiton available when they execute the fifth pick.

When all business had been concluded, the unconventional league had successfully pulled off their unconventional draft night. While riders will concentrate on individual events, PBR Team Series front offices will make last minute reviews of scouting reports and team needs before heading to Nashville, blueprint in hand, prepared to add the necessary talent to take their teams to the next level.

Notes: The Cowboys will have the fourth pick in the second round... The draft can be seen on the Cowboy Channel or with PBR Ride Pass on Pluto TV… Greensboro and the Cowboys will host the Camping World Professional Bull Riders Team Series Event: Cowboy Days from September 20-22 at the Greensboro Coliseum. Ticket information is available at pbr.com.