Basketball Has March Madness, PBR Responds ‘Hold My Beer'

The Professional Bull Riders is preparing to launch a new ad campaign with shades of college basketball fun within March Madness.

College Basketball has March Madness.

In professional bull riding, the madness is year-round.

For PBR Teams – the hot new league of five-on-five bull riding, expanding to ten home cities in the 2024 season – why not join the fun and lean into the wildly popular tournament to generate awareness of a sport where every ride is a buzzer-beater?

That’s what PBR has done, partnering with their creative agency of record, 160over90, in a new campaign that riffs on the unpredictability and anything-can-happen aspect of team bull riding during a splendid time of year when even your grandmother has a favorite college hoops squad.

Among the creative executions, a spot referring to the action on the dirt as buzzer beaters and insanity will run during the Elite 8 on CBS and TBS.

Another spot, 8 Seconds in Vegas, referring to the site of the Teams Championship, showcases PBR on CBS play-by-play voice Craig Hummer’s visceral reactions to a bull ride against the ever-present ticking clock.

(In a separate version, Hummer called a ride an incredible “Dance” – that ubiquitous college hoops metaphor used in drinking games during March’s bracket-busting broadcasts. Alas, that was off limits; such is the prodigious protective brilliance of the marketing minds behind a tournament climaxing in a Final deleted; let’s just say one after 3 and one less than 5.)

PBR’s individual tour, now underway, which precedes the Teams season starting in July, has sold out more than 25 events in the new year. Red-hot PBR has earned the right to ride alongside a sport whose impressive heart-mind capture has successfully branded an entire month.

It’s an easy comparison. PBR by nature defines insanity.

What is every bull ride but a terribly outweighed and overmatched 150-pound cowboy with nothing but a bull rope in his hand, courage in his heart, and questionable choices in his life?

Every rider-on-bull matchup is UMBC vs. Virginia, Villanova vs. Georgetown.

The difference with PBR and college basketball is when Stephen F. Austin shocks Duke, the stacked Blue Devils don’t run the risk of being stomped and backboarded out of the arena.

PBR Teams first two championship tournaments had their Cinderella stories as well.

The Nashville Stampede were dreadful in the league’s inaugural regular season, going 7-20-1. But they got hot when it counted, and driven by fire-and-brimstone speeches from head coach Justin McBride, worthy of the late, great Jim Valvano, the Stampede pulled off a series of stunning upsets to take the inaugural title.

Now, following its earlier campaign, “It’s Bull Time,” 160over90’s new creative ads, in support of PBR Teams, continue to build on the larger brand strategy developed for PBR, a sister company in the Endeavor network.

The agency’s name refers to elevated blood pressure. That alone qualifies them for marketing bull riding.

“The Teams format is an exciting new innovation in the sport, but also represents an evolution that needed to be communicated thoughtfully, strategically,” Ryan Brown said, SVP Branding for 160over90.

To hit the right notes for the bull riding league’s first national campaign, the creatives had to dive all the way in.

“Some of our team members are from this world, while many others would have been considered outsiders,” Brown said. “We went from riding subway cars to riding…well, we haven’t ridden bulls yet, but we met them, and the riders, the stock contractors, the fans, and so many others.”

Those experiences helped craft the “Take the Ride” campaign – which Brown says is designed to navigate the fine balance of authenticity resonating with proud, existing fans, while also tapping into a wider consumer base beginning to explore Western culture and lifestyle more each year.

(Yes, Beyonce went country. And it’s great.)

Beyond a few comparisons to college basketball, the creative team looked for distinctive separation.

“‘Take the Ride’ celebrates how PBR Teams is unlike other everyday team sports and gives new fans a taste of the high-energy, exhilarating experience delivered in the arena,” Brown said. “For those who know and love PBR, it shows how PBR Teams brings new layers of intrigue and ways to experience fandom.”

As often happens in professional sports, last Friday, there was a trade – Derek Kolbaba from the Florida Freedom to the Carolina Cowboys. Further, a draft lottery, the 2024 expansion draft and unrestricted free agency are coming up. After that, it will be walk-off wins, tough-to-swallow shutouts, the injured reserve, more trades, opposing riders getting booed – all components new to PBR, but elements of team sports any fan can relate to.

“Take the Ride” rolls out Monday, March 11 in broadcast, out-of-home, digital, social, and print executions.

PBR sold out three more individual competition events last Saturday night. During Team play, many more should be taking the ride.