PBR's Wild 11-Day Stretch Culminates in World Finals at AT&T Stadium

PBR's Wild 11-Day Stretch Culminates in World Finals at AT&T Stadium The operation will have produced 250 streams and broadcasts across 10 platforms By Mark J Burns, SVG Contributor

Friday, May 16, 2025 - 10:19 am

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The 2025 PBR World Finals concludes tomorrow evening and Sunday afternoon at the Dallas Cowboys' AT&T Stadium with a record-setting $3.26 million purse, including a $1 million payout to the new champion. The three-phase event across two venues ends what will be an 11-day stretch when PBR will have produced 22 shows, more than 250 streams and broadcasts, across 10 platforms - including CBS, Cowboy Channel, Roku, Apple TV - and multiple PBR social-media platforms, such as YouTube and X.

Integrating the rental and extra equipment into what we do - just one of many challenges in this 11-day stretch that includes new shows and culminates in our largest venue - is a tribute to the hardest-working, most talented and dedicated team in sports, says Jim Palermo, director, remote productions, PBR.

PBR's Jim Palermo: Every minute of the broadcast has to give fans a reason to care and get engaged. We strive to do that for every rider who crawls into that chute on top of the best bulls on the planet.

The biggest challenge of the tumultuous stretch - with events in Corpus Christi, Fort Worth, Arlington, and other Texas cities - has been the logistics and ensuring that equipment and gear arrive on time. He notes that rental equipment is arriving throughout the week at AT&T Stadium, which will also host a team rodeo event called Kid Rock's Rock N Rodeo tonight. The team competition will be livestreamed exclusively on Fox Nation.

AT&T Stadium is so large that we have to integrate into their stadium system, which is a completely different animal for us, Palermo explains. Normally, we home-run everything, using 95% of our equipment and laying out all the cable. Here, we use the venue's infrastructure for cable paths and video and audio feeds.

PBR's production setup for the Kid Rock show and two-day World Finals at AT&T Stadium includes an A and B unit, or technology trucks, he adds. The trucks house timing, scoring, arena and television communications, network, and the Internet for the entire live in-arena production.

Besides the television broadcast and the big-screen video feed, all the tour's technology is handled in the two trucks. More than 40 pieces of rental equipment will be deployed at AT&T Stadium, including cameras, graphics machines, and EVS machines. PBR will double the number of wireless headsets and beltpacks for communications for the Rock N Rodeo and finals, according to Palermo.

He notes that the key goal for the finals production is to maintain the quality and standards of our regular-season events with these special postseason shows. Meanwhile, the broadcasts emphasize the dramatic chase to the title as the world's best bull riders compete for a gold buckle they've dreamed about their whole life, and storytelling that makes the riders, bulls, and bull-stock contractors interesting and relatable to fans.

Behind the scenes in PBR's production truck

In terms of fan content, PBR Executive Producer David Neal, who joined the organization in 2010, has always said that every ride has two winners, the rider and the bull, making bull riding unique. Says Palmero, [Neal's] vision continues to guide our team: every minute of the broadcast has to give fans a reason to care and get engaged. We strive to do that for every rider who crawls into that chute on top of the best bulls on the planet.

A system of artificial-intelligence timing and scoring sensors will make its debut. According to Palmero, it will resemble the SkyStart system, an AI-based computer and camera system that tracks the bulls electronically to determine when they cross the chute plane to start the 8-second score clock. An additional audio production will be deployed for Kid Rock's Rock N Rodeo.

All the cameras deployed are Sony with Canon lenses. The 10 cameras added for the finals will add bring the total to more than 30. For the weekend's events at AT&T Stadium, PBR will also introduce robotic cameras, per Palermo.

A nearly 80-person television crew will work the finals, up from about 40 normally. Neal and Cory Kelley will serve as executive producers, with David Osborne and Chris Taylor-Shaut as producer and director, respectively. The engineering operation is a family affair, with Neal Mastel as engineer in charge and his brother Ray Mastel and sister Michelle Mastel as second engineers.

Ross Video Production Services, PRG, NEP Rentals (formerly Bexel), and B&H Photo are among PBR's production vendors and third-party tech and media companies working on the Kid Rock show and the PBR Finals in particular.

As part of the finals, PBR's new graphics package, which took less than two months to design and implement, will be on full display. The sports and entertainment property previously used a CBS graphics package, but it was time for a look that is all our own, says Palermo, adding that PBR wanted the arena look and feel to match the broadcast graphics. Keyport Keys President Dave Burke provided assistance in creating the new graphics package.

LINK:	https://www.sportsvideo.org/2025/05/16/pbrs-wild-11-day-stretch-culmin...
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