Luciano De Castro recorded his thirteenth-straight qualified ride at the 2026 PBR World Finals: Unleash The Beast, scoring 90.15 aboard Sour Patch at Cowtown Coliseum in Fort Worth and vaulting to the top of the event leaderboard. The ride pushed De Castro to a perfect 4-for-4 at the World Finals and ties him for the fifth-longest string of consecutive qualified rides in PBR history. De Castro is listed No. 11.

He earned 29 UTB points for his fourth-place finish in Round 4 and moved to the top of the event aggregate by 1.75 points over No. 14 Hudson Bolton, who also went 4-for-4 after an 88.25-point ride on Big Dawg.

After the ride De Castro credited his faith and family and said he approaches competition “bull by bull, jump by jump.” World Finals action will resume at Dickies Arena on Thursday, May 14, with Round 5 beginning at 7:45 p.m. CT and live coverage on Paramount+ at 8 p.m. CT.

Fort Worth will host the PBR World Finals: Unleash The Beast with 45 riders competing across nine rounds. Rounds 1–4 will take place at Cowtown Coliseum, May 7–10, and Rounds 5–8 plus the Championship Round are scheduled for Dickies Arena, May 14–17. The World Finals Event Champion will be determined by the highest aggregate score across all nine rounds and will receive at least $500,000. The season PBR World Champion, based on total UTB points including the Finals, will earn a $1 million bonus and the gold buckle.

Riders can earn up to 1,031 UTB points in Fort Worth, including 50 points for each round win and 500 points for the event winner, with additional points awarded according to individual ride scores. Competitors who qualified via the Pendleton Whisky Velocity Tour must record at least one qualified ride during the first weekend to advance to the second weekend; all other qualifiers automatically advance. PBR said the split schedule highlights both the traditional Cowtown stage and the marquee Dickies Arena, and gives riders a pathway to accumulate crucial points late in the season.

PBRShop will operate multiple retail activations in Fort Worth from May 6–17, including in-venue shopping, trailer pop-ups, and Stockyards retail presences. A merchandise trailer will be stationed outside Cowtown Coliseum during the opening rounds, May 6–12, with extended hours May 7–9 and varied midday-to-evening hours on other days; no event ticket will be required to visit that trailer. The Rodeo Shop at Cowtown Coliseum will host a dedicated World Finals merchandise section May 6–17, generally open midmorning into the evening and featuring exclusive drops and rider-specific collections. From May 14–17 at Dickies Arena, PBR is partnering with Serratelli Hat Company to debut the officially licensed PBR x Serratelli cowboy hat and will provide an on-site fitting station. Fans will also find YETI collaborations and limited-edition World Finals apparel, with additional offerings available online via PBRShop.com. These retail activations will serve attendees inside Dickies Arena as well as visitors across the Stockyards and Cowtown Coliseum during the two-week World Finals timeframe.

The 2026 Pendleton Whisky Velocity Tour Finals will close the Velocity Tour season May 1-2 at the American Bank Center Arena in Corpus Christi. Forty-four riders will compete over three rounds across two nights for the Velocity Tour championship, a $50,000 bonus and five berths to the PBR World Finals. The two-day finals will be streamed live exclusively on RidePass and the PBR App.

The Finals use a format that awards go-round points plus a 200-point aggregate award to first place, and the aggregate winner automatically qualifies for the PBR World Finals in Fort Worth. Five World Finals berths are available through Corpus Christi: the aggregate winner; the highest-finishing unqualified rider; the three highest-ranked unqualified riders in the standings; and the highest-finishing international invite if that rider finishes in the top five. Riders can also earn bonus points based on ride scores, with scores of 70 to 79.99 worth seven points, 80 to 89.99 worth eight points, and 90 to 99.99 worth nine points.

Grayson Cole enters the weekend described as “able to control his own destiny,” and is listed as the rider in the strongest position. Contenders for the title include Macaulie Leather, Wyatt Rogers, Elijah Jennings, Dener Barbosa, Brody Robinson and Andy Guzman. The roster changed before the event, with Nick Tetz not competing and Trace Redd, Jean Paulo Fernandes and Kase Hitt replaced by Vitor Losnake, Aaron Williams and Eli Vasbinder. Many up-and-coming athletes will aim to secure spots on the global stage at the Velocity Tour Finals.

The PBR Unleash The Beast regular season reaches its decisive moment at Stop No. 18 in Tacoma, the riders’ last chance to secure World Finals berths and improve standings before the championship in Fort Worth. The Cooper Tires PBR Tacoma stop at the Tacoma Dome on April 24 and 25 carries championship-level implications as bubble riders fight for Fort Worth spots. Organizers warn every ride will matter, competitors can extend their seasons, lock in positions, or see title hopes effectively end, and fans should expect intensely competitive eight-second rides.

Several storylines add urgency in Tacoma. Reigning world champion Cassio Dias seeks to build on strong scores from Billings, 90.2 and 88.65. Clay Guiton remains inside the Top 10 despite missing nearly 90 days after a grand mal seizure and is scheduled for brain scans in Connecticut this week. Andrew Alvidrez, who was traded to the Texas Rattlers, will not ride for the Missouri Thunder in the season finale. Pegasus, a bull that posted a season-high 46.7-point bull score in Billings, is set to buck in Tacoma.

Live coverage will stream on Paramount+ April 24 and 25 at 10:00 p.m. ET, and the Monster Energy Team Challenge final between the Missouri Thunder and Austin Gamblers will air on CBS on Sunday, April 26 at 1:00 p.m. ET. After Tacoma the series moves to Fort Worth, with opening rounds at Cowtown Coliseum scheduled for May 7 through 10 and the championship weekend planned for May 14 through 17 at Dickies Arena. Note: medical updates and broadcast windows are time-sensitive and should be confirmed if published after these dates.

The Billings stop, scheduled April 17-19 at First Interstate Arena at MetraPark, has emerged as a pivotal late-season event that can reshape individual standings and postseason team seeding ahead of the PBR World Finals in Fort Worth, May 7-17. With two regular-season stops remaining, the two-day Billings format awards 20 go-round points for a win, 80 event aggregate points for first place and nine ride-score bonus points for rides of 90.00 or higher, meaning a single strong weekend can swing a rider’s standing by more than 100 points. Organizers have reshaped the bull pen and are resting some top bulls ahead of the World Finals, a move that could open opportunities for adaptable riders to climb the standings and improve team seeding.

The individual leaderboard entering Billings underscores the event’s import. John Crimber led the standings by 220.5 points over Sage Steele Kimzey, a seven-time PRCA champion, and an 83.5-point gap separated Kimzey from No. 4 Brady Fielder. Fewer than 200 points separated positions No. 2 through No. 10, a group that includes Leandro Zampollo, Alex Cerqueira, Paulo Eduardo Rossetto, Dalton Kasel, Clay Guiton and Cort McFadden. Zampollo is returning from a groin injury, sits third in points and is still seeking his first event win. Daniel Keeping jumped from No. 32 to No. 20 following Sioux Falls, and Dener Barbosa moved into the Top 40 after last weekend’s results. Several riders are managing recent injuries, including Hudson Bolton with rib and groin issues and Kaiden Loud with an ankle concern. Former champion Cassio Dias has struggled after switching back to his Brazilian rope, experiencing a hand pop loose, a hard hit and a trampling, and is slated to draw the bull Black Eyes. Marco Rizzo returns to Billings with his mother one year after breaking his leg at the same event.

Friday’s card in Billings will include the Monster Energy Team Challenge semifinal between No. 2 Austin Gamblers and No. 3 Kansas City Outlaws, with the head-to-head winners advancing to the Team Challenge Championship and the winner slated to play No. 1 Missouri Thunder in Tacoma for the team title. The Unleash The Beast rounds in Billings will air on Paramount+, while the Monster Energy Team Challenge semifinals will be broadcast on CBS. Individual results from Billings will affect regular-season standings and postseason team seeding ahead of the World Finals, raising the stakes for riders and teams at this late-season stop.

Scripps Sports announced a multi-year exclusive broadcast partnership with Professional Bull Riders (PBR) to carry Premier Women’s Rodeo (PWR) on its national networks ION and Grit. The partnership begins in May and will air the PWR Championship from Fort Worth, Texas, on Sunday, May 17 at 1 p.m. ET.

The collaboration will expand in 2027 to include an original series, ‘PWR: Road to the Championship,’ on Grit and a commitment to deliver at least 18 hours of PWR programming across 16 broadcasts. Both ION and Grit will culminate their coverage with the 2027 PWR Championship. The deal leverages ION’s national footprint of more than 126 million U.S. households and marks the first time Grit will incorporate select sports and targeted original programming in its 12-year history.

Scripps executives said the partnership advances the company’s strategy to elevate women’s sports and storytelling on linear television. PBR CEO Sean Gleason said the move gives PWR a national platform to reach millions of viewers and signals a broader programming push for both networks.

At the First PREMIER Bank PBR Sioux Falls event, weekend results reshaped the Unleash The Beast world standings as riders traded big rides and points heading into Championship Sunday. World No. 1 John Crimber, 20, produced a walk-off conversion aboard Rolex for an 89.40-point ride on the final out of Round 2 to win that round and take the event lead. Crimber opened the weekend with an 86.95 on Cherry Shot and was one of five riders who went 2-for-2, compiling a two-round total of 176.35. He earned 28 Unleash The Beast points and stretched his world lead to 86.5 points over No. 2 Sage Steele Kimzey; after Round 1 his lead had been 58.5. Kimzey was bucked off by Mouse Trap in 3.83 seconds and sat 0-for-2.

Dener Barbosa scored a career-high 93.10 aboard No. 1 Pegasus to win Round 1 at the Denny Sanford PREMIER Center, earning 29 UTB points and moving from No. 45 to No. 43 in the world standings. Barbosa’s 93.10 was the second-best score of the 2026 UTB season. Daniel Keeping finished third in Round 1 with an 89.00 ride and earned 17 UTB points; after Round 2 Keeping sat second on the event leaderboard with an 86.65 for a two-round total of 175.65. Eduardo Aparecido placed fourth in Round 1 with an 88.85 ride worth 16 UTB points. Bull scores shifted as well, with No. 2 Red Demon briefly holding the top-bull ranking at 45.40 before Pegasus reclaimed the No. 1 bull spot with a 45.30 score.

Several other riders recorded strong results that affected the event leaderboard and career milestones. Two-time PBR champion Jess Lockwood returned from a two-month injury layoff and rode Stryker for an 89.15, moving from No. 22 to No. 20 in the world standings. Claudio Montanha Jr. rode Max Bet for an 87.70 ride. Daylon Swearingen posted rides of 88.55 and 86.05. Alex Junior da Silva stood fifth on the event leaderboard. Joao Ricardo Vieira notched his 480th career qualified ride during the event, moving him into fifth all-time for career qualified rides. The top 10 in the world standings were separated by 309.50 points as the season built toward the PBR World Finals scheduled May 7–17 in Fort Worth, Texas.

Unleash The Beast comes to Sioux Falls, South Dakota, for Stop No. 16, the First PREMIER Bank PBR Sioux Falls, at the Denny Sanford PREMIER Center this weekend, Friday–Sunday. Sessions will run Friday and Saturday at 7:45 p.m. CT, with Championship Sunday at 1:45 p.m. CT. U.S. streaming coverage will be on Paramount+, the tour’s primary home this year, and coverage begins at 9:00 p.m. ET Friday and Saturday and at 3:00 p.m. ET Sunday.

Sioux Falls uses a three-round format that raises the aggregate winner’s points from 80 to 100 and offers deeper Top-10 payouts. Go-round points remain 20 for a win down to 7 for 10th. The stop is pivotal as riders chase World Finals points, with only 211 points separating the top five in the championship race and three regular-season stops remaining. Organizers say the outcome in Sioux Falls could reshape the World Championship picture ahead of the PBR World Finals, scheduled May 14-17 at Dickies Arena.

The weekend will feature the YETI World Champion Bull race, with contenders including Ransom and Pegasus. Several contenders are sidelined by injuries, including Jose Vitor Leme and Leandro Zampollo, and Keyshawn Whitehorse has been excused to be home. The Pendleton Whisky Velocity Tour continues in Oakland the same weekend, offering alternate qualification pathways for riders trying to move up into Unleash The Beast.