Avenue Sports Fund has successfully secured the sanctioning rights for the New York Mavericks, a new addition to the PBR Teams league under the Professional Bull Riders organization, which has been showcasing the globe’s premier riders since its 2022 inception.
The expansion of the PBR Teams league will see the New York Mavericks among two new teams entering the fray, increasing the competition to 10 teams. These teams will partake in five-on-five bull riding matches across a 12-event season for the 2024 PBR Camping World Team Series, kicking off this July. The Mavericks are set to make their debut at the Barclays Center on August 9-10, marking the Brooklyn venue’s first bull riding event in its nearly twelve-year existence.
Marc Lasry, Chairman, CEO, and Co-Founder of Avenue Capital, and the spearhead of Avenue Sports Fund, highlighted the investment as a pivotal move to introduce a professional sports team within a rapidly growing league to the United States’ largest media market. “Our ambition is to forge a championship-winning bull riding team that Brooklyn and the entire state of New York will be proud of,” Lasry stated, praising Barclays Center as a premier venue for such a venture.
Avenue Capital Group’s recent unveiling of the Avenue Sports Fund aims to extend capital solutions across a broad spectrum of established and emerging sports teams and leagues globally. This initiative also includes investments in sports-related media, entertainment, real estate, and other related sectors.
Sean Gleason, CEO and Commissioner of PBR, welcomed the addition of the Avenue Sports Fund and the New York Mavericks to the league. “For over 17 years, PBR has been breaking records in New York City. It’s time the local fans had their own team,” Gleason remarked. He acknowledged the strength that Marc Lasry and his team bring to the league, contributing to the success of one of the most triumphant professional sports league launches in recent decades.
The composition of the New York Mavericks will start to materialize with the selection of up to six riders during the 2024 Expansion Draft in New York City this April. The roster will be further expanded through the New Rider Draft and the opportunity to sign players during unrestricted free agency, allowing the new teams to complete their lineups.
The 2024 season of the PBR Camping World Team Series is scheduled to commence on July 12 in Oklahoma City, culminating in October with a playoff event at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Each team will host a local event, with additional regular-season events held at neutral locations in Anaheim, CA, and Duluth, GA. Coverage of the PBR Team Series events will be available across CBS Television Network, Paramount+, CBS Sports Network, and Pluto TV.
PBR Teams adhere to the foundational rules of professional bull riding for judging and scoring 8-second rides. The events follow a tournament format, featuring head-to-head matches between teams each day. With teams comprised of up to seven main and five reserve riders, the team with the highest total score from qualified rides wins each match, contributing to the dynamic and competitive structure of the league.
