Legendary Rodeo Coaches Announced for Million-Dollar Kid Rock’s Rock N Rodeo
By: PBR
LAS VEGAS – At a star-studded event at the House of Blues Las Vegas at Mandalay Bay Wednesday night, PBR (Professional Bull Riders) and Kid Rock joined forces to announce the six coaches and team names for the landmark $1 million Kid Rock’s Rock N Rodeo on May 17 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas opening the biggest weekend in Western Sports.
Holding a combined 56 PRCA world titles, Trevor Brazile, Charmayne James, Bobby Mote, Cody Ohl, Sid Steiner and Fred Whitfield were selected as coaches for the revolutionary team-formatted rodeo set to take over the home of the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys the day prior to the PBR World Finals: Unleash The Beast – Championship.
These six rodeo legends, who have earned more than 30 National Finals Rodeo aggregate titles and 100 National Finals Rodeo qualifications, will lead the following teams whose names, chosen by Kid Rock, were each inspired by a classic rock and R&B music hit: Low Riders; Misty Mountain Hop; Free Riders; Convoy; Jokers; and Sledge Hammers.
Kid Rock’s Rock N Rodeo is a reimagined, team-formatted Western event, with six teams, each led by a head coach who will make crucial decisions throughout the bracket-style competition. Five of the six teams will draft their team members and one will be created through a qualifying format conducted by the WCRA. The Kid Rock’s Rock N Rodeo teams draft will be held at a date and place to be announced in addition to the open qualifying format by the WCRA.
Within the new $1-million team-formatted rodeo, Kid Rock will perform live in concert, playing all his hits and more. The all-star rodeo team competition and upbeat production will be patterned after the successful formula PBR brought to bull riding through the Teams league launched in 2022.
Each of the six teams will compete head-to-head in barrel racing, bareback riding, saddle bronc riding, tie-down roping, team roping, steer wrestling, and breakaway roping. For the first time, each discipline will compete simultaneously on the dirt in a tournament-style bracket for the million-dollar purse.
“We’re planning a sports and entertainment experience like no other to open the biggest weekend in Western sports,” said Sean Gleason, CEO and Commissioner, PBR. “The Kid Rock’s Rock N Rodeo is a new mash-up of rodeo and rock and roll: an all-American, patriotic, competitive Western sporting event where the best rodeo athletes in the world join teams for competition on the dirt that rocks as hard as the music surrounding it.”
The coach and team pairings for the inaugural Kid Rock’s Rock N Rodeo are as follows:
Trevor Brazile – Head Coach of Team Low Riders
• Brazile is arguably the greatest-ever all-around cowboy, competing in tie down roping, team roping, as both header and heeler, and steer roping, winning an unprecedented 26 World Championships during his career. Called by some King of the Cowboys, Brazile is the only PRCA contender to have won more than $7 million, and along with Pro Rodeo Hall of Famer Dale Smith, Brazile is the only other cowboy to qualify for the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo (WNFR) in four events.
Charmayne James – Head Coach of Team Misty Mountain Hop
• No cowgirl has won more WPRA world championships in barrel racing than James. Of her 11 WPRA barrel racing world titles, 10 came in consecutive years (1984- 1993). Qualifying for the WNRF 19 times, she won seven WNFR barrel racing average titles and was the first barrel racer to eclipse $1 million in career earnings. In 1987, James made history when she became the first WPRA member to wear the No. 1 back number at Wrangler National Finals Rodeo.
Bobby Mote – Head Coach of Team Free Riders
• Hailed by some as the greatest bareback rider in history, Mote in 2012 became the first to surpass $2 million in earnings. Embarking on his fulltime rodeo career in 2000, Mote qualified for the WNFR 15 consecutive years beginning in 2001. In 2002, Mote won his first of four PRCA bareback riding world championships, also riding supreme in 2007, 2009 and 2010. In his mid-20s Mote took up team roping, and in 2012 finished runner-up to Trevor Brazile in the All-Around Championship.
Cody Ohl – Head Coach of Team Convoy
• Calf roper, steer roper and team roper Ohl delivered one of the most memorable rookie seasons in the PRCA ranks in 1994 when he was crowned Rookie of the Year and qualified for his first WNFR as a tie down roper. In 1997, Ohl won his first World Championship when he edged Fred Whitfield by a mere $5,031. The title would be Ohl’s first of six, also winning the tie down roping title in 1198, 2001, 2003 and 2006. In 2001, Ohl was crowned All Around Champion. Ohl, who only missed one WNFR qualification from 1994-2014, entered an elite group of competitors in 2012 when he crossed $3 million in earnings.
Sid Steiner – Head Coach of Team Jokers
• World champion steer wrestler Steiner, a trailblazing showman who competed from 1995 to 2002, hails from a family with a rich rodeo history. A fourth generation member of the legendary rodeo producers Buck and Tommy of Steiner Rodeo Company, Sid is the son of 2005 PBR Ring of Honor inductee and 1973 RCA World Champion bull rider Bobby Steiner. Sid Steiner reached the ultimate dream of any rodeo competitor when he was crowned World Champion Steer Wrestler in 2002 by winning that year’s WNFR aggregate. During his career Sid, who sported a variety of tattoos and piercings, was nicknamed Sid Rock for his charisma and showmanship. After being crowned World Champion in 2002, Sid Steiner retired.
Fred Whitfield – Head coach of Team Sledge Hammers
• Whitfield is one of the most decorated Black cowboys in rodeo history. He is a seven-time tie-down roping PRCA world champion and was once crowned the all-around champion, while also winning the WNFR average in tie-down roping four times. When Whitfield won the 1991 tie-down roping title, he became the second Black cowboy in PRCA history to win a world title, and then became the first Black Western sports athlete to win an all-around title in 1999. A 20-time WNFR qualifier, his 10-head total of 84.0 seconds en route to the aggregate title in 1997 is regarded as one of the WNFR’s greatest performances. During his storied career, Whitfield became just the third cowboy to surpass $2 million in career earnings.
Each competing team will be comprised of two barrel racers, bareback riders, saddle bronc riders, tie-down ropers, team ropers (headers), team ropers (heelers), steer wrestlers, and breakaway ropers, rotating though the starting position.
Each discipline will be showcased as the teams battle through the first three rounds of competition. All teams will go head-to-head in a randomly seeded Round 1, with the winning team from each showdown automatically advancing. Of the three losing teams, the top performer will earn a consolation spot in Round 2. The four remaining teams will then compete head-to-head in Round 2 with the winners advancing to the final round determining the discipline victor.
At the end of competition for the seven disciplines, the top two teams based on combined discipline performance will advance to the championship round. Each team will go head-to-head one final time in each discipline. The first team to log four discipline wins will be crowned the inaugural Kid Rock’s Rock N Rodeo Champion.
Kid Rock’s Rock N Rodeo begins at 7:45 p.m. CT on Friday, May 17. Following the can’t-miss rodeo, the 2024 PBR World Finals: Unleash The Beast concludes with the Championship when the 2024 PBR World Champion will be crowned, and presented the coveted gold buckle and $1 million bonus. The 2024 PBR World Finals: Unleash The Beast – Championship begins on Saturday, May 18 at 7:45 p.m. CT and concludes on Sunday, May 19 at 1:45 p.m. CT.
Ticket packages including Kid Rock’s Rock N Rodeo (May 17) and PBR World Finals: Unleash The Beast – Championship (May 18-19) at AT&T Stadium are also on sale now and can be purchased at pbr.com/worldfinals or seatgeek.com.
Photo courtesy of Andy Watson/Bull Stock Media
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