Professional Bull Riding is Coming to Austin

By Kevin Malcolm Jr.

Reporting Texas TV

AUSTIN, Texas – College sports have thrived for decades in the city that bleeds orange and white. However, over the past two decades, the pride in green and black has grown with the arrival of professional hockey, soccer, and now bull riding wearing those colors. 

The Austin Gamblers are a professional bull riding team that will compete in the inaugural season of the Professional Bull Riders Team Series later this year. They held a community celebration on April 28 to introduce the team to their newest fans.

Blaze Mayberry is an elite-level high school golfer from Austin. After going to a PBR competition in San Antonio, he decided to chase his dreams of becoming a professional bull rider. His dad brought him to the celebration to meet the people who inspired him to ride bulls.

“I think it’s great! Everyone getting to come together to meet these guys,” Mayberry said, “They’re not big, but to us little guys they are bigger than what people think.”

One of the riders Mayberry looks up to is Dalton Kasel, a 140-pound superstar from Muleshoe, Texas who recently won the 2019 PBR Rookie of the Year Award. He also won the 15/15 Bucking Battle in March. That competition pits the top 15 bulls and riders against each other, and earned him a cash prize of $5,666.

While he isn’t sure which of the eight teams he will end up on, Kasel is happy there are franchises in Austin and Fort Worth for which he can compete.

“I love Austin, I love Texas, so I’m always rooting for a Texas team,” Kasel said.

Kasel said Texas is known for having great teams in all sports and levels of competition. He is happy PBR is bringing more teams to Texas, and thinks they can reach the same level of popularity as other teams in the area.

“We can only go up from where we are now,” Kasel said, “I think we will one day be on the level of the NFL and Major League Baseball.”

Heading the Gamblers is CEO J.J. Gottsch, who has experience working with the Round Rock Express and Ryan Sanders Baseball & Entertainment. He said he knows how to build teams in the growing Austin market.

Gottsch said the Gamblers plan to build not for just one season but to make generations of fans. 

If you want to become one of those fans you can find tickets for the home events in the Moody Center and more at the Austin Gamblers website.