Updated as of 10:38 a.m. on Sept. 24 to include more photos from the event.

The Carolina Cowboys, North Carolina’s professional bull riding team, made its homestead debut at the Greensboro Coliseum Sept. 22 — the first night of a three day team series tournament called the PBR Cowboy Days. 

The Greensboro Coliseum was filled with North Carolinians, as well as PBR fans who had traveled from across the country. 

Attendee Emerson Veaman is local to the area and said she had attended several rodeos before, but this was her first PBR event.

“It’s just so interesting and exciting,” Veaman said.

While Veaman attended with a group of friends, many audience members came with their children and families. Audience members were able to “play along” with the tournament through sports betting. 

The Carolina Cowboys is now ranked fourth in the league, moving up one spot after winning against the Arizona Ridge Riders with a 4.5 point lead Sept. 22.

The Cowboys will be playing against Oklahoma Freedom, who are now fifth in the league, on Sept. 23. Matchups for Sept. 24 will not be announced until after all four games Sept. 23 are completed.

Tickets to the PBR Cowboy Days at the Greensboro Coliseum are available starting at $20 on TicketMaster. The games will start at 6:45 p.m. Sept. 23 and 1:45 p.m. Sept. 24. 

The PBR Cowboy Days includes four games each night, with each of the eight teams competing all three nights. The teams each have five riders on their starting lineup, each rider competing is paired with a different bull.

In order to qualify for a score, the riders must stay on the bull for eight seconds without touching the bull or the equipment with their free hand. 

From its five riders, the Cowboys only made two qualifying rides from Sage Steele Kimzey and Cooper Davis, scoring a total of 178.25 points. 

Kimzey rode Mike’s Motive, a bull whose game stats includes bucking off 73% of riders with an average bucking time of two seconds. Going into the night, Kimzey had successful rides 57% of the time throughout his PBR career.

Despite the odds, Kimzey had a qualifying ride on Mike’s Motive, securing the Cowboys 91 out of a possible 100 points. This was Kimzey’s sixth time scoring at least 90 points, and his score was tied for highest of the night with 18-year-old Trace Redd, who is a reserve rider for the Texas Rattlers and the youngest rider in the league. 

Davis, who is ninth in the league and current PBR World Champion, secured the Cowboys’ win with the final ride of the night by scoring 87.25 points. At the end of the night, Davis thanked the crowd for coming to support the Cowboys at their first home game since the team — and the PBR team series — was started in 2022.

“Just to let you guys know, we go everywhere all over the world and this is the first time we’ve had a home team advantage,” Davis said.