AUSTIN (KXAN) — Professional Bull Riders is calling Austin home with a new sports team: Austin Gamblers.
The team is part of the inaugural PBR Team Series, a new bull riding league for PBR that consists of eight teams and 10 events across the country, with a championship event in Las Vegas.
Austin Gamblers will be the first pro sports team to host an event at the new Moody Center in August. The season officially kicks off in July.
Thursday, the team will host a launch party at Republic Square in downtown Austin. The event is free and open to the public from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. It will feature live music by the Ghosts of Kenny Rogers, food trucks and bull riding games, including a live bull and a mechanical bull on site.
Attendees will also get to meet bull riding champions, including two-time reigning PBR champ Jose Vitor Leme and Gamblers Coach Michael Gaffney, a former champion and one of the original founders of PBR.
The PBR Team Series league launches in June and will feature some of the best bull riders from across the world. The Austin Gamblers’ roster will include seven riders along with three practice squad members.
The Austin Gamblers won the first-ever team draft lottery to determine selection order among the eight teams, according to team officials. That means the Gamblers will have the top pick in the draft that will take place on May 23 in Arlington, Texas.
