Oklahoma Freedom Return to Paycom Center for 2023 PBR Team Series Homestand September 8-10

By: James Youness

OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. – Ahead of the second season of the ground-breaking PBR (Professional Bull Riders) Team Series, the Oklahoma Freedom today announced that their annual homestand, PBR Freedom Fest, will return to Paycom Center Sept. 8-10

Tickets for the event are on sale now, and start at $20, taxes and fees not included. They can be purchased online at Ticketmaster.com and PBR.com, at the Paycom Center Box Office or by calling PBR customer service at 1-800-732-1727.

The Freedom are Oklahoma’s first-ever professional bull riding team, competing in the PBR Team Series, which transforms bull riding from an individual to team-formatted competition. Under the leadership of Head Coach and four-time PBR World Finals qualifier Cord McCoy, in addition to Assistant Coach and 2009 PBR World Champion Kody Lostroh, the team features a talent-packed roster including 2021 PBR Rookie of the Year Eli Vastbinder, annual world title contenders Chase Outlaw and Derek Kolbaba, rising young stars Tate Pollmeier, Casey Roberts and Briggs Madsen, as well as two-time PBR World Champion Jess Lockwood.

During the 2023 regular season, each of the eight founding teams will compete in 28 head-to-head, five-on-five bull riding games, held across 10 events. The team with the highest aggregate score will be the game winner.

Each team will host a three-day homestand, welcoming the seven other teams, while also competing in two neutral site events, beginning with the season-launch event on July 24-25 in Cheyenne, Wyoming. The season will conclude in Las Vegas on Oct. 20-22, when the teams will go head-to-head in the PBR Team Series Championship, vying to be crowned the 2023 Team Series Champions.

PBR Freedom Fest will mark the sixth event of the 2023 PBR Team Series season, and fourth team-hosted homestand.

After becoming the first team to win their homestand in 2022, the Oklahoma Freedom will return to the arena this summer keen to win their first PBR Team Series Championship.

In 2022, the Oklahoma Freedom delivered a torrid regular season, going 16-12 in game play to advance to the Championship as the league’s No. 3 seed. Despite a Round 1 loss at the Championship, the Freedom battled their way through the progressive elimination tournament’s first Last Chance Game, delivering back-to-back 90-point rides, to keep their title hopes alive. The team advanced to the Semifinals after defeating the No. 4 Carolina Cowboys by 2.25 points, compliments of a go-ahead game-winning score from first-round draft pick Eli Vastbinder.

In the Semifinals, the No. 5 Arizona Ridge Riders stood between Oklahoma and the Championship Game. Despite leading the game until the fifth frame, the Freedom were ultimately defeated 89.25-176.25.

In the team’s final game of the season, the Freedom took on the No. 2 Texas Rattlers in the Third-Place Game for the PBR Team Series Championship. The Freedom were outscored by two rides in the 86.75-270 loss, concluding the 2022 season in fourth place.

During the regular season, the Freedom notably became the first team to win their homestand. Going 3-0 at the inaugural Freedom Fest, they earned the hometown victory by defeating the Austin Gamblers, Texas Rattlers and Carolina Cowboys.

During the offseason for PBR Teams, the Freedom’s riders have proved a force on the premier individual tour, the PBR Unleash The Beast. Fresh off his career-first PBR premier series event win at the most recent stop in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Captain Eli Vastbinder leads his team, ranked No. 16 in the standings.

Vastbinder is joined inside the Top 30 in the standings by young gun Tate Pollmeier, who is ranked No. 21 as he chases his first PBR World Finals berth, Kolbaba, who holds down the No. 22 position, and a surging Lockwood, who has risen to No. 30 in the standings having competed at just two events.

The Freedom will be one of the featured bull riding teams in the highly anticipated upcoming docuseries The Ride, debuting later this year on Prime Video.

The bull riding action for the 2023 PBR Team Series’ Freedom Fest at Paycom Center begins at 7:45 p.m. CT on Friday, September 8, 6:45 p.m. CT on Saturday, September 9, and 1:45 p.m. CT on Sunday, September 10.

Three-day ticket packages are available, offering fans a 15% discount on select price levels.

For more information about Oklahoma Freedom, visit https://pbr.com/teams/freedom/, Oklahoma Freedom on Facebook, @OK_Freedom_ on Instagram, or @OKfreedom_ on Twitter.

Photo courtesy of Todd Brewer/Bull Stock Media

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