As the sun beat down on the city of Sunrise, the local government rolled out the red carpet for their freshly transplanted sports team, the Florida Freedom, with the City Commission officially declaring August 2 as "Florida Freedom Day" in a clear effort to rally the community behind the Professional Bull Riders (PBR) cohort. The newly minted hometown heroes, who uprooted from Oklahoma, have taken up residence at the Amerant Bank Arena, where they'll aim to captivate locals with a rodeo spectacle unlike the typical individual fare, showcasing the thrills of a five-on-five team bull riding competition that's stampeding into the sports mainstream, according to the city's announcement.
The proclamation was not solely a document full of officialese from the Mayor and Commissioners, rather it's an invitation for the community at large to don their cowboy hats and partake in a rodeo experience during the team's inaugural homestand which kicked off yesterday and continues through to Sunday including events tonight Saturday evening and Sunday afternoon – tickets are up for grabs to anyone wanting to witness history in the making or just in the mood for some bucking broncos.
Spearheaded by the 2024 Ring of Honor inductee, Head Coach Paulo Crimber, the Florida Freedom is not just kicking up dust for show; they're in the chase to lasso a World Championship come October, brandishing a roster that's boiling over with talent including the prodigious John Crimber, battle-hardened Trey Benton III, and a posse of World Finals veterans like Alex Cerqueira and Thiago Salgado, as noted in this morning's roster rundown.
Adding to the day's pageantry, the team unveiled new commemorative jerseys during the morning festivities that symbolize a sartorial kinship with both the Florida Panthers and the Freedom, as the city's announcement aptly captured the spirit of the new threads, with the sporty crossover design to cheer on Sunrise's latest athletic recruits, welcome to their new stamping grounds in the ever-vibrant South Florida sports mosaic.
