What to Tune in for During the PBR’s Christmas Marathon on CBS Sports Network

By: Darci Miller

PUEBLO, Colo. – We might still be a few weeks away from the start of the 2021 Unleash The Beast: American Roots Edition, but that doesn’t mean Christmas week is going to be devoid of PBR action.

From December 24-26, CBS Sports Network will be airing 25 hours of PBR competition from 2020. Beginning with the season-opening 15/15 Bucking Battle to November’s PBR Air Force Reserve Cowboys For A Cause, PBR fans will be hard-pressed not to have something fun to watch if they need a break from the traditional holiday movie.

Read on for a rundown of highlights from the events that will be marathoning.

Monster Energy Buck Off at the Garden 15/15 Bucking Battle (12/25 at 6 a.m. ET)

 
The first event of 2020 kicked the season off with a bang in Madison Square Garden in the heart of New York City with the first 15/15 Bucking Battle of the year. While Joao Ricardo Vieira walked away with the event win, it was Mason Taylor showing up big in the 15/15 Bucking Battle, notching the first 90-point of his career aboard Marquis Metal Works Bill The Butcher. He duplicated the feat in the championship round later that weekend, making the 8 aboard Bill The Butcher for an identical 90-point score. Taylor would go on to finish the season ranked No. 15 in the world standings.

Wrangler Long Live Cowboys Classic (12/25 at 8 a.m. ET)

 
Jose Vitor Leme won the 2020 PBR World Championship on the back of a dominant season, which included seven Unleash The Beast event wins. His first came in January in Sacramento, California, at the Wrangler Long Live Cowboys Classic. He went 4-for-4, edging out Marco Eguchi thanks to three round wins, including a 91-point ride on Rising Sun in the championship round. It was classic Leme perfection, and a sight that PBR fans got very used to as the season progressed.

Iron Cowboy, presented by Ariat (12/24 at 3:30 a.m. ET, 12/25 at 10 a.m. ET and 8 p.m. ET)

 
Until 2020, just one rookie – 2018 World Champion Kaique Pacheco – had won a PBR Major. Enter Cole Melancon. Melancon made his Unleash The Beast debut at Iron Cowboy in the STAPLES Center in Los Angeles, and he wasted no time making his presence known. Though he was bucked off in Round 3, he advanced based on his aggregate score and rode Spotted Demon for 89.75 points in Round 4 en route to a massive victory. Thanks largely to the points he won at Iron Cowboy, Melancon finished his rookie campaign ranked No. 10.

U.S. Border Patrol Invitational (12/25 at 11 a.m. ET at 9 p.m. ET)

 
Leme won two events to end January, and then took a two-week break from the winner’s circle during Iron Cowboy and the 2020 PBR Global Cup USA (where he won the individual aggregate, naturally). But when the Unleash The Beast was back in action, so was Leme, who won the U.S. Border Patrol Invitational in St. Louis for event win No. 3.

Las Vegas Invitational, presented by Union Home Mortgage (12/25 at 1 p.m. ET and 11 p.m. ET)

 
Following the nationwide shutdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the PBR set up a residency in Guthrie, Oklahoma, with three UTB events that were closed to fans in the famed Lazy E Arena. The first was the PBR Las Vegas Invitational, presented by Union Home Mortgage, and it was a grizzled veteran that proved to be the most comfortable in the unprecedented environment. Fabiano Vieira went 3-for-3 to take the event win, becoming the fourth-oldest rider ever to win a premier series event. In July, Vieira sustained serious head injuries at a Touring Pro Division event, which required surgery and months of rehab. Our thoughts are with him as he continues his remarkable recovery.

Lucas Oil Invitational, presented by U.S. Border Patrol (12/25 at 3 p.m. ET and 12/26 at 1 a.m. ET)

 
As Leme ran roughshod over the 2020 season, it took until May and the PBR Lucas Oil Invitational, presented by U.S. Border Patrol, for any other rider to even notch a second event win. That rider turned out to be Lucas Divino, who had also won the Caterpillar Classic in Kansas City, Missouri. Divino went 3-for-3 in the final event of the PBR’s stay in Guthrie, edging Alex Cerqueira for the second event win of his season and his career. Divino would go on to finish No. 11 in the final 2020 world standings.

2020 PBR World Finals (12/25 at 4 p.m. ET and 12/26 at 2 a.m. ET)

 
Where do we even begin? Leme’s world title-clinching, 95.75-point ride on Woopaa, Boudreaux Campbell’s incredible 4-for-5 performance, the final ride of Ryan Dirteater’s career, a Round 3 featuring six 90-point rides, Smooth Operator winning his second consecutive world title… There was no shortage of incredible moments in AT&T Stadium, and it’s a World Finals we won’t soon forget.

PBR Air Force Reserve Cowboys for a Cause (12/24 at 4:30 a.m. ET, 12/25 at 7 p.m. ET and 12/26 at 5 & 6 a.m. ET)

The best bull riders in the world riding bulls aboard an aircraft carrier to raise money for charity. It kind of speaks for itself.

Photo courtesy of Josh Homer/Bull Stock Media

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