May 8, 2024 • 33 mins
On this episode of The Downtown, we talk to Sean Gleason with the PBR. PBR World Finals starts Thursday, May 9th and conclude May 18th at AT&T Stadium. We talk all about the World Finals and even about Kid Rock’s Rock N Rodeo. We also hear music from Joseph Fisher- Schramm with his song “I’m Yours If You Want Me” along with The Vintage Yell with their new single “You Got Me.”
Website - www.arlingtoncitizenmedia.com
Apple Podcasts - https://tinyurl.com/yf2yk2jz
Google Podcasts - https://tinyurl.com/ybuxuvym
Spotify - https://tinyurl.com/yh4xbgvu
Podcast Addict- https://tinyurl.com/y9d7qcpy
Spreaker - https://www.spreaker.com/user/arlingtoncitizenmedia
Website - www.arlingtoncitizenmedia.com
Apple Podcasts - https://tinyurl.com/yf2yk2jz
Google Podcasts - https://tinyurl.com/ybuxuvym
Spotify - https://tinyurl.com/yh4xbgvu
Podcast Addict- https://tinyurl.com/y9d7qcpy
Spreaker - https://www.spreaker.com/user/arlingtoncitizenmedia
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:25):
Welcome to the Downtown. Brought toyou by Arlen to Citizen Media. I
am Roady John and today we talkedto Sean Gleeson with a PBR. PBR
World Finals start Thursday May ninth andconclude May eighteenth at at and T Stadium.
We talk all about the World Finalsand we even talk about Kid Rocks
Rock and Rodeo. That's right,Kid Rock is having his rock and rodeo,
(00:47):
his first ever here in the DFWarea and it is going to be
amazing. And I cannot wait foragain for the World Finals of the PBR
to come back to the DFW area. It's going to start and forworth,
but it is going to end atat and T Stadium. Is going to
be amazing. We also hear musicfrom Joseph Fisher Stram with his song I'm
Yours if you want me First.Here is the Vintage Yell with their new
(01:11):
single you Got Me. I'm sorryif I'm letting you down. That spent
a lot of hard time going aroundthe Dodgings bunches left in the right got
(01:37):
all beat up when I wasn't evenlooking aside. Oh God, you got
you got me? Color. Yougotta plan helping him. I'm reading a
(02:00):
fault. There ain't no, thereain't no others. You shine a light
down nice ready, you got itup. There was a time when I
wasn't myself. You could have boxedup. But man back on the shelf.
(02:29):
I'm pulled away. You double down, getting it from being cast away
in along from foul. But seeyour face, bab, Now you got
(02:50):
bad, you got the color.You gotta plan, helping hand. Let
them ready in a fault therey.No, there ain't no other you shouting
out his down. Nice baby,you've got it, you got it,
(03:15):
you got your you got me,you got me cover, you got a
(03:42):
plan, helping hand, and I'mready to fall therey. No, there
ain't no other you shouting down.Nice baby, you got your shan shan
(04:02):
yo, shann sh sh I wouldlike to welcome the show. Welcome back
(04:30):
to the show, I should say, Sean Gleason with the PBR. How
are you doing today, sir,I'm great, good to be on.
How are you I'm doing well?Thanks for coming back on. Yeah,
absolutely, I mean it is thattime of year again. The PBR World
Finals are returning to the DFW area, more specifically here in Arlington, Texas
at AT and T Stadium starting Mayninth through May nineteenth, so many festivities
(04:54):
are happening as usual. Can youwalk us through what you know people can
look forward to this year. Yeah. So we did switch up the format
a little bit and took the finalrounds of the PBR World Finals to AT
and T Stadium, home of theDallas Cowboys, And that's right a place
(05:14):
that we're very familiar with and havehad a lot of great success over the
years, so we're excited to bringthe championship rounds there. But we also
have some great events in the WorldFinals happening at Cowtown Coliseum and Fort Worth.
Then we'll kick it off on theninth, tenth, eleventh, and
twelfth with what we're calling the eliminationsrounds now, So change the format a
(05:35):
little bit and the top forty fivewill come into Cowtown Coliseum and battle it
out for four days, and we'regoing to take the top twenty and move
them on to AT and T Stadiumand the other ones have one more chance
to get in. Sorry, I'vegot a little power problem here. The
(05:57):
others will have a chance to getin and the ride for demption in the
middle of the week, but wedecided that we're going to narrow the field
down and take the top twenty fiveguys in the world will ultimately end up
competing at AT and T Stadium.Yeah, So, how did y'all come
to the conclusion that y'all needed tomaybe change things up with this three part
tournament style you got going on?Well, to be perfectly honest, we
(06:19):
looked at a lot of statistics,and over the years, it seems,
you know, fairly's statistically relevant thatwhen we go into the world finals for
one reason or another, we usuallysee about fifteen or twenty guys that are
riding at the top of their gameand in the hunt for a world title
(06:41):
every year, and the other bottomtwenty drop off and they don't ride a
lot of bulls. So we decided, before we go into at and T
Stadium, let's just take the guysin that are making a legitimate run at
the PBR world title to be namedchampion, and the guys that are on
the hot streaks, and let's ridemore bulls at AT and T Stadium than
(07:03):
we might otherwise ride. That's incredible. Yeah, I love that you guys
are have come along this way somafar and then you're just like, let's
change things up. Let's you know, you got to keep things fresh on
a regular basis. And I lovethat you're looking back on what you've done
and trying to do something different forthe future. Yeah, you really do.
I mean, change is a constantwith us, and I take a
(07:24):
lot of criticism for it once ina while, and I'm not afraid of
that because we've made a lot ofgood decisions on the way, not not
all of them have been good decisions, but they've been at least well thought
out based on, you know,something that ultimately improves the product and serves
our fans better. And that's whatthis is about, right without a doubt.
(07:45):
Now, talk to us more aboutthe collaboration there. You guys have
had with the city of for Worthas well, because they've become you know,
they've been synonymous with the stockyards forever, and you know, you guys
have been a great partnership when itcomes to what happening out there in Fort
Worth and also bringing it here toArlington as well. And as somebody from
the DFW area, you know,as much as we like to kind of
(08:09):
sibling rivalry, situation when it comesto different cities. We're all in it
together. We all love each other, we all want things to be better,
and you know, something like thiscoming and helping out more than one
city is always a fantastic thing.I guess talk to us about how great
this partnership has been between multiple cities. Yeah, you know, that's the
thing. We had a long standingrelationship with the city of Arlington. We've
(08:30):
been bringing a PBR event since Ibelieve twenty ten to AT and T Stadium,
So for a long time we've broughtthe PBR's biggest events to AT and
T. And we had a chanceto move the World Finals to Texas and
specifically targeted Fort Worth, where we'vedone a lot of work with the city
(08:54):
and Majestic Reality and Stockyards Heritage Groupin revitalizing Cowtown Colise and bringing more events
there. So, uh, itjust it just all kind of fell fell
together. And we we do understandthe sibling rivalry between cities, but we
want to be friends with everybody,and so having having some of these very
(09:16):
important first rounds in Fort Worth thatwe think are going to be frankly some
of the most competitive bull riding thatanybody's ever seen. Because we're leaving some
guys at home, you know,that means that means they don't get to
compete for the big money that's upin that final weekend, and there's still
a lot of money up in FortWorth. But they, you know,
they've got to they've got to rideto They've got to ride and perform in
(09:39):
order to make it on. Andso it's probably going to be some of
the most competitive bull riding that we'veever seen in Cowtown Coliseum, the place
where PBR held its first event ever, right thirty one or thirty two years
ago. And then and then it'son to the biggest stadium that we could
possibly imagine playing. And you know, we've been part with the Dallas Cowboys
(10:01):
and the Jones family for a longtime, and so being able to hold
parts of the World Finals in bothFort Worth and Arlington is is our dream
come true. It's perfect for us. I mean, the history alone,
it writes itself. And I lovethat you guys are doing that as well.
Yeah, sometimes you just have toyou have to look at the past
and reimagine the future, and that'scertainly certainly what we're doing here. I
(10:24):
love that quote. That's amazing.So on May seventeenth, something new is
happening as well. Kid Rock's Rockand Rodeo will be debuting at at and
T Stadium. We have multiple wehave teamed events vying for one million dollars.
What more can you tell us aboutthis first time ever event. Yeah,
you know, it's been over theyears, many many times the rodeo
(10:46):
contestants that are not bull riders haveapproached us and asked if there's any advice,
counsel or anything that we can doto to help them realize a little
bit of the dream that the PBRbull riders have realized since they broke away
from rodeo thirty two years ago.And and candidly, this is it.
(11:07):
This is the model that I thinkis a way to add opportunity, earning
potential for rodeo athletes that you knowwas born literally on Kid Rock's porch,
has to sit down and talk aboutdoing something. He's a big, huge
fan of rodeo and bull riding andconsiders them to be the last great American
(11:31):
sports. And so we sat down. I told him, you know that
the idea I had for a teamrodeo event that it's additive to the whole
system. It's not trying to replacerodeo or take anything away from the individual
opportunities that contestants have and competing inrodeos across the country and on the way
(11:54):
to the national finals rodeo, whichare all fantastic events and we don't want
to do anything to harm them.But this is a way that we can
get in and add some money andadd some value. And I think based
on the early feedback, you're goingto see this concept grow bigger and better
over the years. Yeah, bigtime, Amy, You've got to start
somewhere, and what better way tostart at at and T Stadium and you
(12:16):
know, adding more things that peoplecan go check out. Yeah, and
Team Rodeo. You know is weproved with the PBR Team's launch that that
you can in fact reimagine rodeo andbull riding in a in a new way
and not ruin the entire sanctity ofthe history of the sport. It's it's
(12:37):
still the competitors doing exactly what theydo week in and week out. It's
still an eight second bull ride.They still have to stay on, they
still got to get a score.It's the same riders and the same bowls,
but you put them in a teamformat and it adds a new dimension
of fandom to it that that makesthe sport considerably more engaging and easier to
(12:58):
understand for general consumer. So we'redoing the same thing at Kid Rocks Rock
and Rodeo. It's team format andthose contestants will come out and it's their
individual performance is the same, butthe outcome might not be because they have
to function as a team and everybody'sgot to pull away, right. Well,
I mean you do speak on thatbecause you, like you were talking
(13:20):
about, you had brought the teamwriting aspect to the bull riding and that's
been what two three years now oris it even that long. We've had
two seasons. We're going to enterour third and July. This past fall,
we expanded the league already by twoteams, so we went from eight
to ten teams and sold an expansionfranchise to this's based in New York City
(13:43):
of all places now, and thenone in Oklahoma, and we have a
that was from a relocation of theOklahoma team to Miami. So we've already
had two seasons in we've had arelocation an expansion, the gross been phenomenal.
Ticket sales were up twenty eight tothirty percent last year, and TV
(14:05):
ratings were up significantly, and sothe teams that teams model. I'd argue
that one of the most successful newleague launches in the past twenty or thirty
years for a sports league launch,and it's just because the you take the
compelling aspects of bull riding, howexciting it is, the adrenaline that everything
(14:28):
that fans love about it, andyou put it into a team format and
it gives them something new to rootfor and as well as the riders.
So rodeo same thing. It's it'sstill the sanctity of each individual competition,
except one little twist that I putin at this rodeo. They're going head
(14:48):
to head against each other and they'restarting on what we call the crew.
So it's red light, yellow light, green light, go, and the
first one to rope their caf orwrestle their steer or make it around those
barrels is the winner of that match, and they'll move on to face another
competitor. It doesn't matter how muchyou lose, by if you lose,
(15:11):
you're out. That's amazing. Yeah, I love this aspect of it.
It's very traditional sports. It givesyou know, it gives a casual consumer
an easy to understand outcome to eachmatch. You don't have to sit there
and keep track of the time.Oh that first guy did it in six
seconds and the last guy did itin five point nine. You know,
(15:35):
was he the winner? Was henot the winner? What about the people
in the middle? This is prettysimple. Tie that caf and throw your
hands up before the other guy does, and you're moving on and it comes
down to one team against one teamand winner take call. That seems so
simple. I don't know why anybodyhadn't done it before called sports. Yeah.
(16:00):
Well, so when you do bringthese new things in to something that
you know has been around forever likethis, I imagine you obviously have some
of the purists that will kind of, you know, not be okay with
certain things. I mean, we'reseeing that in baseball as well, with
them making the game shorter with theclocks and so forth. What has what
feedback have you gotten from traditionalists thatthey actually changed their mind and they were
(16:23):
actually really enjoyed it and really lovedit. Yeah, you know, and
we're two years in going into ourthird season in bull riding, and the
traditionalists definitely wanted to kill me whenI launched a team bull riding, like
I was ruining the world. AndI think it's a testament. I've had
(16:47):
dozens and dozens of them come upto me at events now and just know
they'll never admit they're wrong, butthey'll tell you, ah, you know
that thing. I was kind ofmad at you, but it's got some
you know. I was tuned inthe other day and I think of a
fan of the Texas Rattlers and andyou know, or you get I get
other comments and social or email,and people will tell me, you know,
(17:10):
moving the world finals to Texas,that that wasn't a good thing for
me, and you know, andwhatever. But I'm coming anyway. You
know. I'm like, I'm madat you, but I'm coming anyway.
And I'm like, oh, youshow me, you know, I mean,
so the feedback, you know,with all the changes that we've made,
(17:32):
it just takes a little time.And there's a few of the peerists
that will never forgive you. Butthey're the closed minded folks that if they
were running things that would be outof business in a day. So I
love that. Yeah, I lovehearing the feedback when it is actually,
like you said, they won't admitthat they're wrong, but they're like,
well, you know, it wasn'tas bad as I thought. It wasn't
as bad. Yeah, you know. That's what you know when I see
(17:56):
some of them now and they're wearinga Texas Rattler's jersey or you know,
because I know who they are.I've heard from him over the years a
lot, you know, And there'ssome of those peers that you see them
and they show up and they're wearinga Rattler's jersey and you're like, oh
huh, yeah, you're the onethat said that you'll never follow us again,
and that you're quitting bull riding alltogether, and and that we made
(18:22):
the biggest mistake on the planet.We're going to be out of business in
a week. Thank you for thejersey purchase. There you go. And
that's another great thing you guys areI imagining capitalizing on as well as the
merchandise, because once you've got ateam, you can people consolid get behind
them. I mean, yes,you can do that with individual writers and
so forth, but it's so mucheasier when you have a whole team,
(18:44):
because then everyone could be a Rattler, even though obviously they're not performing as
well as everybody else, but theycan fully feel part of that team as
opposed to just you know, gettingbehind just one or two writers. Absolutely,
I mean it's fanned them, youknow, And that's what that's that's
what we wanted to build with this. There's a lot of reasons we launched
it. First of all, bullriding is getting better because now with coaches
(19:07):
and people that the bull riders areresponsible to, their writing percentages go up.
And you know, the Texas Rattlerswon last year's Team Championships event,
and you would have thought that everymember of their team was a reigning or
a future world champion the way thatthey were writing. And then you know,
in individual bull riding, you lookand it's like, oh, he's
(19:30):
twenty eighth, and he's thirty second, he's forty fifth. But you get
some good coaching and you get someaccountability to the sport and the professionalism that
you need to be a professional athlete, and it changes the game. And
then the fans from that perspective,can survive one wrid being injured or retiring
(19:53):
and still have something to be passionateabout and root for. And all of
our teams are geographically so the fandommay be limited regionally in some cases.
You know, fans from the PacificNorthwest are going to have to choose one
of the teams that are all fifteenhundred miles away right now. But even
(20:15):
if they don't, building that fandomin the Fort Worth area for the Rattlers,
or Kansas City for the Outlaws,or Nashville for the Stampede, it's
a different engagement opportunity for us toengage with fans and fans to engage with
sport. And it's really working.And it's not just to not just to
sell merchandise. Is to create somepassion, I get it. That's sports
(20:41):
exactly. Yeah. You're helping createmoments that people will can remember forever exactly
Yeah. And they and they havea rooting interest that survives time and they
can wear proudly if they do chooseto buy some merchandise. Exactly. So
tell us more about what people canlook forward to while the PBR World Finals
is here in Darling in the DFWarea. Well, we've got a lot
(21:03):
of activities that surround the event.So there's performances on the ninth, tenth,
eleven, and twelfth, and Ibelieve that fourteenth to fifteenth in Cowtown
Coliseum. Then we've got seventeen eighteennineteen at AT and T Stadium. But
all throughout that time we'll be inthe stockyards with the Stockyards Stampede, and
(21:23):
we're creating a lot of experiential opportunitiesfor fans to come down and engage with
the rioters and the teams and stockcontractors and other aspects of the sport.
We'll have some first ever drone showsover the stock on that first weekend.
We're gonna experiment. The herd inthe stockyards doesn't like fireworks, so there
(21:48):
aren't a whole lot of I don'tknow that there's been a lot of fireworks
displays in and around the stockyards becauseit messes with the infamous herd yep,
But drone won't. So we're goingto do a drone show down in the
stockyards after the performances on Friday andSaturday night the first weekend, and then
we're going to do the same outof AT and T on Friday and Saturday
(22:11):
night. So drone shows, activations, kid zones, food, fun.
You can expect it all over thoseten eleven days that we're in the DFW
area. I love that. Now, obviously, this is you know,
the culmination of what everyone's been workingon for a year. Once this is
(22:33):
done for you, is it kindof like a breath of fresh air and
then you start over or do youcelebrate or how do you kind of wrap
things up whenever you're done. Well, the way that I've set up the
schedule, our only downtime is reallyJune, so there is a little bit
of a break, but then youknow, in July we start the next
(22:56):
teams, we start the team serviceagain, and that leads up to October
and the Team Championships in Las Vegas, and then in November we start the
march to Fort Worth and Arlington withthe next season of individual bull riding in
the Unleashed Beast Series. So nota lot of downtime. We're always planning
for something or we're always executing something. But that's nature of the business and
(23:18):
the name of the game. That'strue. I'm just curious because there's so
many people that will just maybe acknowledgethe moment then keep moving on, or
some people just be like, allright, you can't get hold of me
for like two weeks. I'm gonnabe in on a beach somewhere. That
isn't an option for me, butit's of my own creation, so I
can't complain. That's true. Iimagine you. I mean, you go
(23:40):
to many places that are just absolutelypicturesque as it is, and so many
people have to pay to go there, and you, you know, it's
just business for you, so that'sprobably a good break as well. Yeah,
nobody should feel sorry for me.I get to travel the country,
beat people, be around a greatsport, great events, and get paid
paid to do it. So I'venever complained once. I still this twenty
(24:03):
five years of doing this, andwow, and I haven't regretted a day.
There you go. Now, I'dbe remiss if I didn't ask,
do you have a favorite kid rocksong? I do. It's called Jackson
Mississippi. It's not one of hismost popular songs, but it's kind of
driving rockish. I'm an eighties hairbandguy from back in the day, so
(24:29):
I like some of the driving rockstuff. But he's uh, he's always
been one of my favorite artists.I mean, how did how did you
not get affected by Cowboy when itcame out. Oh man, even when
the Cowboy serone in the UFC wouldcome out to it, I would lose
my mind. There's actually a prowrestler this still comes out to it,
and I'm like, yeah, that'swhat's going on. Yeah, I mean,
(24:51):
you know, and you think abouthis career and the time that he
spanned as a as an artist atthe forefront of his game, and you
can't help but have a tremendous amountof respect for for his art and his
craft and he is He's just trulya down to earth great guy. I
mean, there's he I'm just ahuge fan of him personally and his music.
(25:18):
Yeah, what he's come from,you know, coming from Detroit,
you know, is that rock comingfrom Detroit as it is, coming out
as a rap rock kind of guy, and then you know, going into
country and just being a rocker justnow as he is. There's so many
evolutions of kid Rock and I lovedit, and he is doing great things.
For anybody who wants to stay upto date with the PBR, buy
(25:41):
tickets obviously look forward to seeing whatthe events are not only this time around,
but in the future. How canpeople find y'all? You can log
onto PBR dot com and there's aWorld Finals tab. They'll give you all
the information that you need to knowand links to tickets for Cowtown colisseum or
at and t and and or checkthose box offices. Here we go.
(26:06):
And uh, you know, Iguess unofficially, if people want to make
bets, who are some people thatyou would probably put money on, But
not that you're betting at all,because you can't. But you know,
you know, they're all my favoritechildren, So I never pick a favorite
the uh, but I can saypretty safely right now to anybody that's follows
(26:26):
the sport, they'll know that it'sgoing to be hard to beat Cassio Diaz.
I mean, the kid is anabsolute phenom. He's won what eight
events this year. It's like,that's nuts. I wouldn't bet against him,
but I you know, I alsothink it's going to be a dogfight
(26:48):
to win the titles that are upand available. You know, there's a
lot of money at Cowtown Coliseum,and I truly think that's going to be
some of the most intense riding actionthat we've ever seen in the sport.
Is those four days at Cowtown Coliseum. I think you're going to see the
same and the Ride for Redemption whensome guys have a chance to redeem themselves
(27:10):
and get back in. And thenthere's just a tremendous amount of money up
for the world title or the thewinner of the World Finals itself. That
event is going to pay out threehundred and fifty thousand minimum plus round money,
So it's a half a million dollarpayday for two days of work for
some of these cowboys. And soI think you're going to see. I
(27:33):
don't think Cassio's got it mailed into win all of that, but he's
the odds on favorite the way he'sbeen riding this year. I love it,
John, Thank you so much againfor coming back. I always love
this time of year. PBR.If you have never been, it is
going to be one of the mostfun things you've ever done in your entire
life. Just imagining a human beingon top of a bull trying to stay
(27:55):
on there for eight seconds, it'sinsane to think about. It's even more
insane to watch. I love it, and uh, I can't wait for
what's happening this coming weekend. Wellthanks for having me on, John,
I am yours if you want me, and I'm sorry if you do,
(28:26):
because I don't have un much toa girl who knows as much as you.
I am scared of your body.I am scared of your soul mm
(29:00):
hmm. But I would rather bedown then let be in with you.
(29:22):
So I am yours if you wantme. You can see a none man
name anymore. It didn't take muchto drive me Crazzy. I guess I
(29:51):
wasn't that sane before. I don'tcare about my fureture and I don't care
about your pass. Those things comefrom and lead to know they can get
(30:29):
the hell out fast. So Iam yours if you want me. You
know one know I think you shouldbecause I want you to be mine.
(30:59):
So I promise that make it.Thank you so much for Sean Gleason again
(31:21):
for coming back on the show.Sean is such a always welcome guest to
the Downtown. The PBR World Finalsagain start Thursday May ninth and conclude May
eighteenth at aighteen and T Stadium.Also, thank you so much to the
Vitta yell at the top of theshow with their new single you Got Me
and you just heard Joseph Fisher Schromwith his song I'm Yours if you Want
(31:44):
Me. His new album has willbe coming out this Friday, so definitely
make sure to check that out.And he will also be playing Elevett Pavilion
June second, so definitely want tocheck him out while you're checking out the
fun things, don't forget. EveryMonday is Trivia Night over at Doctor je
that starts at seven pm. Also, every Monday is open Mic Comedy over
at eighteen fifty one. Sign upis at seven forty, show starts at
(32:07):
eight. Every Wednesday is Jambo's BarbecueUta Jazz Night and that starts at five
thirty ends at seven thirty. Andthen also every Wednesday is Trivia Night over
at Division Brewing that is from sevento nine pm. Compete to win that
gold. And while you're doing allthe fun things, make sure to eat
local, drink local, and gorediscover your city. Tag us and send
(32:30):
those pictures over to us on FacebookArlington Citizen Media, Twitter atx Citizen Media,
tag us on Instagram Arlington citisen Mediaand send send those pictures the old
fashioned way email Arlington Citizen Media atgmail dot com. Also go to our
website www. Dot arlingtonsitismedia dot com. Don't forget to subscribe and give those
(32:52):
five star reviews of the Downtown atApple Music, Spotify, Google Podcasts,
and also us on SoundCloud, iHeartRadio and YouTube. What unble b b
(33:25):
b b up buble un bugles bb b b b bub buble up b
Welcome to the Downtown. Brought toyou by Arlen to Citizen Media. I
am Roady John and today we talkedto Sean Gleeson with a PBR. PBR
World Finals start Thursday May ninth andconclude May eighteenth at at and T Stadium.
We talk all about the World Finalsand we even talk about Kid Rocks
Rock and Rodeo. That's right,Kid Rock is having his rock and rodeo,
(00:47):
his first ever here in the DFWarea and it is going to be
amazing. And I cannot wait foragain for the World Finals of the PBR
to come back to the DFW area. It's going to start and forworth,
but it is going to end atat and T Stadium. Is going to
be amazing. We also hear musicfrom Joseph Fisher Stram with his song I'm
Yours if you want me First.Here is the Vintage Yell with their new
(01:11):
single you Got Me. I'm sorryif I'm letting you down. That spent
a lot of hard time going aroundthe Dodgings bunches left in the right got
(01:37):
all beat up when I wasn't evenlooking aside. Oh God, you got
you got me? Color. Yougotta plan helping him. I'm reading a
(02:00):
fault. There ain't no, thereain't no others. You shine a light
down nice ready, you got itup. There was a time when I
wasn't myself. You could have boxedup. But man back on the shelf.
(02:29):
I'm pulled away. You double down, getting it from being cast away
in along from foul. But seeyour face, bab, Now you got
(02:50):
bad, you got the color.You gotta plan, helping hand. Let
them ready in a fault therey.No, there ain't no other you shouting
out his down. Nice baby,you've got it, you got it,
(03:15):
you got your you got me,you got me cover, you got a
(03:42):
plan, helping hand, and I'mready to fall therey. No, there
ain't no other you shouting down.Nice baby, you got your shan shan
(04:02):
yo, shann sh sh I wouldlike to welcome the show. Welcome back
(04:30):
to the show, I should say, Sean Gleason with the PBR. How
are you doing today, sir,I'm great, good to be on.
How are you I'm doing well?Thanks for coming back on. Yeah,
absolutely, I mean it is thattime of year again. The PBR World
Finals are returning to the DFW area, more specifically here in Arlington, Texas
at AT and T Stadium starting Mayninth through May nineteenth, so many festivities
(04:54):
are happening as usual. Can youwalk us through what you know people can
look forward to this year. Yeah. So we did switch up the format
a little bit and took the finalrounds of the PBR World Finals to AT
and T Stadium, home of theDallas Cowboys, And that's right a place
(05:14):
that we're very familiar with and havehad a lot of great success over the
years, so we're excited to bringthe championship rounds there. But we also
have some great events in the WorldFinals happening at Cowtown Coliseum and Fort Worth.
Then we'll kick it off on theninth, tenth, eleventh, and
twelfth with what we're calling the eliminationsrounds now, So change the format a
(05:35):
little bit and the top forty fivewill come into Cowtown Coliseum and battle it
out for four days, and we'regoing to take the top twenty and move
them on to AT and T Stadiumand the other ones have one more chance
to get in. Sorry, I'vegot a little power problem here. The
(05:57):
others will have a chance to getin and the ride for demption in the
middle of the week, but wedecided that we're going to narrow the field
down and take the top twenty fiveguys in the world will ultimately end up
competing at AT and T Stadium.Yeah, So, how did y'all come
to the conclusion that y'all needed tomaybe change things up with this three part
tournament style you got going on?Well, to be perfectly honest, we
(06:19):
looked at a lot of statistics,and over the years, it seems,
you know, fairly's statistically relevant thatwhen we go into the world finals for
one reason or another, we usuallysee about fifteen or twenty guys that are
riding at the top of their gameand in the hunt for a world title
(06:41):
every year, and the other bottomtwenty drop off and they don't ride a
lot of bulls. So we decided, before we go into at and T
Stadium, let's just take the guysin that are making a legitimate run at
the PBR world title to be namedchampion, and the guys that are on
the hot streaks, and let's ridemore bulls at AT and T Stadium than
(07:03):
we might otherwise ride. That's incredible. Yeah, I love that you guys
are have come along this way somafar and then you're just like, let's
change things up. Let's you know, you got to keep things fresh on
a regular basis. And I lovethat you're looking back on what you've done
and trying to do something different forthe future. Yeah, you really do.
I mean, change is a constantwith us, and I take a
(07:24):
lot of criticism for it once ina while, and I'm not afraid of
that because we've made a lot ofgood decisions on the way, not not
all of them have been good decisions, but they've been at least well thought
out based on, you know,something that ultimately improves the product and serves
our fans better. And that's whatthis is about, right without a doubt.
(07:45):
Now, talk to us more aboutthe collaboration there. You guys have
had with the city of for Worthas well, because they've become you know,
they've been synonymous with the stockyards forever, and you know, you guys
have been a great partnership when itcomes to what happening out there in Fort
Worth and also bringing it here toArlington as well. And as somebody from
the DFW area, you know,as much as we like to kind of
(08:09):
sibling rivalry, situation when it comesto different cities. We're all in it
together. We all love each other, we all want things to be better,
and you know, something like thiscoming and helping out more than one
city is always a fantastic thing.I guess talk to us about how great
this partnership has been between multiple cities. Yeah, you know, that's the
thing. We had a long standingrelationship with the city of Arlington. We've
(08:30):
been bringing a PBR event since Ibelieve twenty ten to AT and T Stadium,
So for a long time we've broughtthe PBR's biggest events to AT and
T. And we had a chanceto move the World Finals to Texas and
specifically targeted Fort Worth, where we'vedone a lot of work with the city
(08:54):
and Majestic Reality and Stockyards Heritage Groupin revitalizing Cowtown Colise and bringing more events
there. So, uh, itjust it just all kind of fell fell
together. And we we do understandthe sibling rivalry between cities, but we
want to be friends with everybody,and so having having some of these very
(09:16):
important first rounds in Fort Worth thatwe think are going to be frankly some
of the most competitive bull riding thatanybody's ever seen. Because we're leaving some
guys at home, you know,that means that means they don't get to
compete for the big money that's upin that final weekend, and there's still
a lot of money up in FortWorth. But they, you know,
they've got to they've got to rideto They've got to ride and perform in
(09:39):
order to make it on. Andso it's probably going to be some of
the most competitive bull riding that we'veever seen in Cowtown Coliseum, the place
where PBR held its first event ever, right thirty one or thirty two years
ago. And then and then it'son to the biggest stadium that we could
possibly imagine playing. And you know, we've been part with the Dallas Cowboys
(10:01):
and the Jones family for a longtime, and so being able to hold
parts of the World Finals in bothFort Worth and Arlington is is our dream
come true. It's perfect for us. I mean, the history alone,
it writes itself. And I lovethat you guys are doing that as well.
Yeah, sometimes you just have toyou have to look at the past
and reimagine the future, and that'scertainly certainly what we're doing here. I
(10:24):
love that quote. That's amazing.So on May seventeenth, something new is
happening as well. Kid Rock's Rockand Rodeo will be debuting at at and
T Stadium. We have multiple wehave teamed events vying for one million dollars.
What more can you tell us aboutthis first time ever event. Yeah,
you know, it's been over theyears, many many times the rodeo
(10:46):
contestants that are not bull riders haveapproached us and asked if there's any advice,
counsel or anything that we can doto to help them realize a little
bit of the dream that the PBRbull riders have realized since they broke away
from rodeo thirty two years ago.And and candidly, this is it.
(11:07):
This is the model that I thinkis a way to add opportunity, earning
potential for rodeo athletes that you knowwas born literally on Kid Rock's porch,
has to sit down and talk aboutdoing something. He's a big, huge
fan of rodeo and bull riding andconsiders them to be the last great American
(11:31):
sports. And so we sat down. I told him, you know that
the idea I had for a teamrodeo event that it's additive to the whole
system. It's not trying to replacerodeo or take anything away from the individual
opportunities that contestants have and competing inrodeos across the country and on the way
(11:54):
to the national finals rodeo, whichare all fantastic events and we don't want
to do anything to harm them.But this is a way that we can
get in and add some money andadd some value. And I think based
on the early feedback, you're goingto see this concept grow bigger and better
over the years. Yeah, bigtime, Amy, You've got to start
somewhere, and what better way tostart at at and T Stadium and you
(12:16):
know, adding more things that peoplecan go check out. Yeah, and
Team Rodeo. You know is weproved with the PBR Team's launch that that
you can in fact reimagine rodeo andbull riding in a in a new way
and not ruin the entire sanctity ofthe history of the sport. It's it's
(12:37):
still the competitors doing exactly what theydo week in and week out. It's
still an eight second bull ride.They still have to stay on, they
still got to get a score.It's the same riders and the same bowls,
but you put them in a teamformat and it adds a new dimension
of fandom to it that that makesthe sport considerably more engaging and easier to
(12:58):
understand for general consumer. So we'redoing the same thing at Kid Rocks Rock
and Rodeo. It's team format andthose contestants will come out and it's their
individual performance is the same, butthe outcome might not be because they have
to function as a team and everybody'sgot to pull away, right. Well,
I mean you do speak on thatbecause you, like you were talking
(13:20):
about, you had brought the teamwriting aspect to the bull riding and that's
been what two three years now oris it even that long. We've had
two seasons. We're going to enterour third and July. This past fall,
we expanded the league already by twoteams, so we went from eight
to ten teams and sold an expansionfranchise to this's based in New York City
(13:43):
of all places now, and thenone in Oklahoma, and we have a
that was from a relocation of theOklahoma team to Miami. So we've already
had two seasons in we've had arelocation an expansion, the gross been phenomenal.
Ticket sales were up twenty eight tothirty percent last year, and TV
(14:05):
ratings were up significantly, and sothe teams that teams model. I'd argue
that one of the most successful newleague launches in the past twenty or thirty
years for a sports league launch,and it's just because the you take the
compelling aspects of bull riding, howexciting it is, the adrenaline that everything
(14:28):
that fans love about it, andyou put it into a team format and
it gives them something new to rootfor and as well as the riders.
So rodeo same thing. It's it'sstill the sanctity of each individual competition,
except one little twist that I putin at this rodeo. They're going head
(14:48):
to head against each other and they'restarting on what we call the crew.
So it's red light, yellow light, green light, go, and the
first one to rope their caf orwrestle their steer or make it around those
barrels is the winner of that match, and they'll move on to face another
competitor. It doesn't matter how muchyou lose, by if you lose,
(15:11):
you're out. That's amazing. Yeah, I love this aspect of it.
It's very traditional sports. It givesyou know, it gives a casual consumer
an easy to understand outcome to eachmatch. You don't have to sit there
and keep track of the time.Oh that first guy did it in six
seconds and the last guy did itin five point nine. You know,
(15:35):
was he the winner? Was henot the winner? What about the people
in the middle? This is prettysimple. Tie that caf and throw your
hands up before the other guy does, and you're moving on and it comes
down to one team against one teamand winner take call. That seems so
simple. I don't know why anybodyhadn't done it before called sports. Yeah.
(16:00):
Well, so when you do bringthese new things in to something that
you know has been around forever likethis, I imagine you obviously have some
of the purists that will kind of, you know, not be okay with
certain things. I mean, we'reseeing that in baseball as well, with
them making the game shorter with theclocks and so forth. What has what
feedback have you gotten from traditionalists thatthey actually changed their mind and they were
(16:23):
actually really enjoyed it and really lovedit. Yeah, you know, and
we're two years in going into ourthird season in bull riding, and the
traditionalists definitely wanted to kill me whenI launched a team bull riding, like
I was ruining the world. AndI think it's a testament. I've had
(16:47):
dozens and dozens of them come upto me at events now and just know
they'll never admit they're wrong, butthey'll tell you, ah, you know
that thing. I was kind ofmad at you, but it's got some
you know. I was tuned inthe other day and I think of a
fan of the Texas Rattlers and andyou know, or you get I get
other comments and social or email,and people will tell me, you know,
(17:10):
moving the world finals to Texas,that that wasn't a good thing for
me, and you know, andwhatever. But I'm coming anyway. You
know. I'm like, I'm madat you, but I'm coming anyway.
And I'm like, oh, youshow me, you know, I mean,
so the feedback, you know,with all the changes that we've made,
(17:32):
it just takes a little time.And there's a few of the peerists
that will never forgive you. Butthey're the closed minded folks that if they
were running things that would be outof business in a day. So I
love that. Yeah, I lovehearing the feedback when it is actually,
like you said, they won't admitthat they're wrong, but they're like,
well, you know, it wasn'tas bad as I thought. It wasn't
as bad. Yeah, you know. That's what you know when I see
(17:56):
some of them now and they're wearinga Texas Rattler's jersey or you know,
because I know who they are.I've heard from him over the years a
lot, you know, And there'ssome of those peers that you see them
and they show up and they're wearinga Rattler's jersey and you're like, oh
huh, yeah, you're the onethat said that you'll never follow us again,
and that you're quitting bull riding alltogether, and and that we made
(18:22):
the biggest mistake on the planet.We're going to be out of business in
a week. Thank you for thejersey purchase. There you go. And
that's another great thing you guys areI imagining capitalizing on as well as the
merchandise, because once you've got ateam, you can people consolid get behind
them. I mean, yes,you can do that with individual writers and
so forth, but it's so mucheasier when you have a whole team,
(18:44):
because then everyone could be a Rattler, even though obviously they're not performing as
well as everybody else, but theycan fully feel part of that team as
opposed to just you know, gettingbehind just one or two writers. Absolutely,
I mean it's fanned them, youknow, And that's what that's that's
what we wanted to build with this. There's a lot of reasons we launched
it. First of all, bullriding is getting better because now with coaches
(19:07):
and people that the bull riders areresponsible to, their writing percentages go up.
And you know, the Texas Rattlerswon last year's Team Championships event,
and you would have thought that everymember of their team was a reigning or
a future world champion the way thatthey were writing. And then you know,
in individual bull riding, you lookand it's like, oh, he's
(19:30):
twenty eighth, and he's thirty second, he's forty fifth. But you get
some good coaching and you get someaccountability to the sport and the professionalism that
you need to be a professional athlete, and it changes the game. And
then the fans from that perspective,can survive one wrid being injured or retiring
(19:53):
and still have something to be passionateabout and root for. And all of
our teams are geographically so the fandommay be limited regionally in some cases.
You know, fans from the PacificNorthwest are going to have to choose one
of the teams that are all fifteenhundred miles away right now. But even
(20:15):
if they don't, building that fandomin the Fort Worth area for the Rattlers,
or Kansas City for the Outlaws,or Nashville for the Stampede, it's
a different engagement opportunity for us toengage with fans and fans to engage with
sport. And it's really working.And it's not just to not just to
sell merchandise. Is to create somepassion, I get it. That's sports
(20:41):
exactly. Yeah. You're helping createmoments that people will can remember forever exactly
Yeah. And they and they havea rooting interest that survives time and they
can wear proudly if they do chooseto buy some merchandise. Exactly. So
tell us more about what people canlook forward to while the PBR World Finals
is here in Darling in the DFWarea. Well, we've got a lot
(21:03):
of activities that surround the event.So there's performances on the ninth, tenth,
eleven, and twelfth, and Ibelieve that fourteenth to fifteenth in Cowtown
Coliseum. Then we've got seventeen eighteennineteen at AT and T Stadium. But
all throughout that time we'll be inthe stockyards with the Stockyards Stampede, and
(21:23):
we're creating a lot of experiential opportunitiesfor fans to come down and engage with
the rioters and the teams and stockcontractors and other aspects of the sport.
We'll have some first ever drone showsover the stock on that first weekend.
We're gonna experiment. The herd inthe stockyards doesn't like fireworks, so there
(21:48):
aren't a whole lot of I don'tknow that there's been a lot of fireworks
displays in and around the stockyards becauseit messes with the infamous herd yep,
But drone won't. So we're goingto do a drone show down in the
stockyards after the performances on Friday andSaturday night the first weekend, and then
we're going to do the same outof AT and T on Friday and Saturday
(22:11):
night. So drone shows, activations, kid zones, food, fun.
You can expect it all over thoseten eleven days that we're in the DFW
area. I love that. Now, obviously, this is you know,
the culmination of what everyone's been workingon for a year. Once this is
(22:33):
done for you, is it kindof like a breath of fresh air and
then you start over or do youcelebrate or how do you kind of wrap
things up whenever you're done. Well, the way that I've set up the
schedule, our only downtime is reallyJune, so there is a little bit
of a break, but then youknow, in July we start the next
(22:56):
teams, we start the team serviceagain, and that leads up to October
and the Team Championships in Las Vegas, and then in November we start the
march to Fort Worth and Arlington withthe next season of individual bull riding in
the Unleashed Beast Series. So nota lot of downtime. We're always planning
for something or we're always executing something. But that's nature of the business and
(23:18):
the name of the game. That'strue. I'm just curious because there's so
many people that will just maybe acknowledgethe moment then keep moving on, or
some people just be like, allright, you can't get hold of me
for like two weeks. I'm gonnabe in on a beach somewhere. That
isn't an option for me, butit's of my own creation, so I
can't complain. That's true. Iimagine you. I mean, you go
(23:40):
to many places that are just absolutelypicturesque as it is, and so many
people have to pay to go there, and you, you know, it's
just business for you, so that'sprobably a good break as well. Yeah,
nobody should feel sorry for me.I get to travel the country,
beat people, be around a greatsport, great events, and get paid
paid to do it. So I'venever complained once. I still this twenty
(24:03):
five years of doing this, andwow, and I haven't regretted a day.
There you go. Now, I'dbe remiss if I didn't ask,
do you have a favorite kid rocksong? I do. It's called Jackson
Mississippi. It's not one of hismost popular songs, but it's kind of
driving rockish. I'm an eighties hairbandguy from back in the day, so
(24:29):
I like some of the driving rockstuff. But he's uh, he's always
been one of my favorite artists.I mean, how did how did you
not get affected by Cowboy when itcame out. Oh man, even when
the Cowboy serone in the UFC wouldcome out to it, I would lose
my mind. There's actually a prowrestler this still comes out to it,
and I'm like, yeah, that'swhat's going on. Yeah, I mean,
(24:51):
you know, and you think abouthis career and the time that he
spanned as a as an artist atthe forefront of his game, and you
can't help but have a tremendous amountof respect for for his art and his
craft and he is He's just trulya down to earth great guy. I
mean, there's he I'm just ahuge fan of him personally and his music.
(25:18):
Yeah, what he's come from,you know, coming from Detroit,
you know, is that rock comingfrom Detroit as it is, coming out
as a rap rock kind of guy, and then you know, going into
country and just being a rocker justnow as he is. There's so many
evolutions of kid Rock and I lovedit, and he is doing great things.
For anybody who wants to stay upto date with the PBR, buy
(25:41):
tickets obviously look forward to seeing whatthe events are not only this time around,
but in the future. How canpeople find y'all? You can log
onto PBR dot com and there's aWorld Finals tab. They'll give you all
the information that you need to knowand links to tickets for Cowtown colisseum or
at and t and and or checkthose box offices. Here we go.
(26:06):
And uh, you know, Iguess unofficially, if people want to make
bets, who are some people thatyou would probably put money on, But
not that you're betting at all,because you can't. But you know,
you know, they're all my favoritechildren, So I never pick a favorite
the uh, but I can saypretty safely right now to anybody that's follows
(26:26):
the sport, they'll know that it'sgoing to be hard to beat Cassio Diaz.
I mean, the kid is anabsolute phenom. He's won what eight
events this year. It's like,that's nuts. I wouldn't bet against him,
but I you know, I alsothink it's going to be a dogfight
(26:48):
to win the titles that are upand available. You know, there's a
lot of money at Cowtown Coliseum,and I truly think that's going to be
some of the most intense riding actionthat we've ever seen in the sport.
Is those four days at Cowtown Coliseum. I think you're going to see the
same and the Ride for Redemption whensome guys have a chance to redeem themselves
(27:10):
and get back in. And thenthere's just a tremendous amount of money up
for the world title or the thewinner of the World Finals itself. That
event is going to pay out threehundred and fifty thousand minimum plus round money,
So it's a half a million dollarpayday for two days of work for
some of these cowboys. And soI think you're going to see. I
(27:33):
don't think Cassio's got it mailed into win all of that, but he's
the odds on favorite the way he'sbeen riding this year. I love it,
John, Thank you so much againfor coming back. I always love
this time of year. PBR.If you have never been, it is
going to be one of the mostfun things you've ever done in your entire
life. Just imagining a human beingon top of a bull trying to stay
(27:55):
on there for eight seconds, it'sinsane to think about. It's even more
insane to watch. I love it, and uh, I can't wait for
what's happening this coming weekend. Wellthanks for having me on, John,
I am yours if you want me, and I'm sorry if you do,
(28:26):
because I don't have un much toa girl who knows as much as you.
I am scared of your body.I am scared of your soul mm
(29:00):
hmm. But I would rather bedown then let be in with you.
(29:22):
So I am yours if you wantme. You can see a none man
name anymore. It didn't take muchto drive me Crazzy. I guess I
(29:51):
wasn't that sane before. I don'tcare about my fureture and I don't care
about your pass. Those things comefrom and lead to know they can get
(30:29):
the hell out fast. So Iam yours if you want me. You
know one know I think you shouldbecause I want you to be mine.
(30:59):
So I promise that make it.Thank you so much for Sean Gleason again
(31:21):
for coming back on the show.Sean is such a always welcome guest to
the Downtown. The PBR World Finalsagain start Thursday May ninth and conclude May
eighteenth at aighteen and T Stadium.Also, thank you so much to the
Vitta yell at the top of theshow with their new single you Got Me
and you just heard Joseph Fisher Schromwith his song I'm Yours if you Want
(31:44):
Me. His new album has willbe coming out this Friday, so definitely
make sure to check that out.And he will also be playing Elevett Pavilion
June second, so definitely want tocheck him out while you're checking out the
fun things, don't forget. EveryMonday is Trivia Night over at Doctor je
that starts at seven pm. Also, every Monday is open Mic Comedy over
at eighteen fifty one. Sign upis at seven forty, show starts at
(32:07):
eight. Every Wednesday is Jambo's BarbecueUta Jazz Night and that starts at five
thirty ends at seven thirty. Andthen also every Wednesday is Trivia Night over
at Division Brewing that is from sevento nine pm. Compete to win that
gold. And while you're doing allthe fun things, make sure to eat
local, drink local, and gorediscover your city. Tag us and send
(32:30):
those pictures over to us on FacebookArlington Citizen Media, Twitter atx Citizen Media,
tag us on Instagram Arlington citisen Mediaand send send those pictures the old
fashioned way email Arlington Citizen Media atgmail dot com. Also go to our
website www. Dot arlingtonsitismedia dot com. Don't forget to subscribe and give those
(32:52):
five star reviews of the Downtown atApple Music, Spotify, Google Podcasts,
and also us on SoundCloud, iHeartRadio and YouTube. What unble b b
(33:25):
b b up buble un bugles bb b b b bub buble up b
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
My Favorite Murder with Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark
My Favorite Murder is a true crime comedy podcast hosted by Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark. Each week, Karen and Georgia share compelling true crimes and hometown stories from friends and listeners. Since MFM launched in January of 2016, Karen and Georgia have shared their lifelong interest in true crime and have covered stories of infamous serial killers like the Night Stalker, mysterious cold cases, captivating cults, incredible survivor stories and important events from history like the Tulsa race massacre of 1921. My Favorite Murder is part of the Exactly Right podcast network that provides a platform for bold, creative voices to bring to life provocative, entertaining and relatable stories for audiences everywhere. The Exactly Right roster of podcasts covers a variety of topics including historic true crime, comedic interviews and news, science, pop culture and more. Podcasts on the network include Buried Bones with Kate Winkler Dawson and Paul Holes, That's Messed Up: An SVU Podcast, This Podcast Will Kill You, Bananas and more.
The Joe Rogan Experience
The official podcast of comedian Joe Rogan.