Just down the road from Rodeo Drive, Paramount+ is getting into pro bull riding.
Paramount just signed a five-year rights deal to make Paramount+ the streaming home of the Professional Bull Riders (PBR) premier tour, Unleash The Beast, beginning with the start of the 2026 season, this December 12.
Under the agreement, Paramount+ will live-stream complete coverage of PBR’s UTB five-month season, considered the highest level of individual bull riding competition, which includes events in 19 cities across 17 states.
Financial terms for the deal were not disclosed.
The streaming arrangement expands on an existing relationship between Paramount’s CBS Sports and PBR, which was established in 2013 and runs through 2030. CBS will continue the Game of the Week broadcast coverage during the upcoming UTB season. The CBS-PBR relationship has been on the upswing — in October, CBS aired its highest-rated PBR broadcast to date, reaching an average of 2.7 million viewers.
Another existing collaboration between the studio and PBR is PBR RidePass, an exclusive free live linear channel that’s lived on Pluto TV’s programming grid since 2021.
The latest deal is also an expansion of Paramount Skydance’s partnership with TKO Group Holdings, which in addition to owning PBR, also controls Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). Over the summer, Paramount Skydance signed a seven-year, $7.7 billion deal to make Paramount+ the exclusive home of all 43 major U.S. UFC events starting next year.
The studio’s live-sports rights expansion for one of America’s premiere rodeo events come as one of the sport’s most well-known fictionalized proselytizers of bull riding, producer Taylor Sheridan, just signed a deal with NBCUniversal that will have him leave Paramount Skydance at the end of 2028. Pro bull riding was often featured in the narrative of Sheridan’s most popular show, Yellowstone.
Highlights from the upcoming Unleash the Beast season include PBR’s debut at TD Garden in Boston and Florida State’s Doak Campbell Stadium. The tour will also hit New York’s Madison Square Garden for an 18th time. The season will culminate in Fort Worth, Texas, with the championship rounds held at Dickies Arena May 14-17.
“CBS Sports has been the home of PBR for decades, and we are proud to deepen our partnership by bringing the Unleash the Beast series to our expanding streaming audience on Paramount+,” said Dan Weinberg, executive VP of programming for CBS Sports, in a statement. “This extension enables us to extend our reach, delivering dynamic PBR content to an even wider audience.”
Added Sean Gleason, PBR CEO and Commissioner: “This deal aligns with our longstanding relationship with CBS and reflects our shared commitment to expanding PBR’s reach.”