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Austin Gamblers Kicks Off the Second Season of PBR Team Series
Austin Gamblers: José Vitor Leme, Austin Richardson, Ezekiel "Blue" Mitchell, and Lucas Divino

Bull Riding

Austin Gamblers Kicks Off the Second Season of PBR Team Series

Returning off a 16-12 season in 2022, the Austin Gamblers have a stacked roster and are ready to dominate the 2023 Professional Bull Riders (PBR) Team Series! Starting with the first event in Cheyenne, WY July 24 and 25, the Team Series will feature eight teams of professional bull riders competing at 10 events across the nation before the championship in Las Vegas in October.

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A new concept in what is typically an individual sport, the Team Series was introduced in the PBR in 2022. With each team having a home city, much like other professional team sports organizations, each team hosts one event, in addition to the two neutral events (Cheyenne, WY and Anaheim, CA).

Credit to the Austin Gamblers Facebook Page

With 10 regular season events, there will be a total of 28 head-to-head, five-on-five games before teams head to Las Vegas to again compete head-to-head for the championship title. The unique competition format in the sport of bull riding has been received extremely well; and all the blood, sweat and tears that go into it have even been showcased in a new Amazon Prime Video docuseries, ‘The Ride,’ which premiered May 30.

A team that is expected to show out after just falling short to the Nashville Stampede at the championship in 2022: the Austin Gamblers, who rounded out the regular season as No. 1 in the series. They secured their protected roster, which they’re calling ‘The Magnificent Seven,’ before the 2023 PBR Team Series Draft that took place in Fort Worth, TX in May. 

“We did all our 2023 roster work last season with the trades for Ramon de Lima and Dalton Kasel, along with the pickup of Adriano Salgado in the offseason,” said Gamblers Head Coach and 1997 PBR World Champion Michael “G-Man” Gaffney.

Adding to the power and promise that de Lima, Kasel, and Salgado bring, the rest of the 2023 Gamblers roster includes two-time world champion Jose Vitor Leme, Austin Richardson, Lucas Divino, and Ezekiel Mitchell. On the practice squad are Jean Fernandes Pereira and Cort McFadden.

Sticking true to the team’s roots, all seven riders have deep ties to the state of Texas. Mitchell from Rockdale, TX, Richardson from Dallas, TX, and Kasel from Muleshoe, TX are joined by four Brazilian cowboys who now call Decatur, TX home.

Jose Vitor Leme, Gamblers during the third day of the Austin Gambler Days PBR Teams event. Photo by Josh Homer/Bull Stock Media.

Each rider also had a very successful 2023 Unleash the Beast season, with the PBR World Finals wrapping up in May. Leme finished second in the world, Kasel fifth, de Lima 10th, Richardson 28th, Mitchell 29th, Divino 32nd, and Salgado 59th. Following the kick-off event in Cheyenne and three other events, the Gamblers will host PBR Gambler Days on August 25 – 27 in Austin, TX at Moody Center. Catch the full schedule below!

2023 PBR Team Series Schedule

  • July 24 – 25: PBR Team Series, Cheyenne Frontier Days (Cheyenne, WY)
  • August 3 – 5: PBR Outlaw Days (Kansas City, MO)
  • August 12 – 13: PBR Team Series, Anaheim (Anaheim, CA)
  • August 18 – 20: PBR Stampede Days (Nashville, TN)
  • August 25 – 27: PBR Gambler Days (Austin, TX)
  • September 8 – 10: PBR Freedom Fest (Oklahoma City, OK)
  • September 15 – 17: PBR Thunder Days (Ridgedale, MO)
  • September 22 – 24: PBR Cowboy Days (Greensboro, NC)
  • September 29 – October 1: PBR Ridge Rider Days (Glendale, AZ)
  • October 6 – 8: PBR Rattler Days (Fort Worth, TX)
  • October 20 – 22: Team Series Championship (Las Vegas, NV)

For information on the Austin Gamblers, and tickets for each event, visit https://pbr.com/teams. We at Cowboy Lifestyle Network can’t wait for another year of the PBR Team Series, and we’ll catch you at the Gambler Days in Austin this August!

Save 25% OFF
select tickets by purchasing at the link below and using
PASSCODE: AUS25

CLN Community & Event Sponsor

Originally from Earth, Texas, a small town in the Texas panhandle, I was raised around rodeo, agriculture, and the western lifestyle. With a degree from Texas A&M University, I have found a passion for promoting the lifestyle that made me who I am today. I am an experienced writer, marketer, and event professional with a strong desire to share the stories of those in our industry. When I’m not busy seeking out ways to promote the western way of life, I enjoy following those I care about around to rodeos, hunting, and going on runs with my blue-eyed, blue-merle Australian Shepherd.

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