Bull riding returned to Desert Diamond Arena this week as the Arizona Ridge Riders opened a three-night homestand under real pressure, trying to shake off a brutal midseason slide before their window to make the postseason closes. The event, known as Ridge Rider Days, ran Thursday through Saturday, October 8 through 10, and was part of the 2026 PBR Teams regular season.
As FOX 10 Phoenix reported, the event brought bull riding action to Glendale, with all 10 PBR Teams league franchises competing across the three nights. The stakes were real for the host team: per PBR, Arizona entered the homestand in sixth place with an 11-15 record, having lost 11 of its last 14 games after opening the season 8-4.
A Tight Scramble for Playoff Position
With the PBR Teams Championship in Las Vegas ahead, all 10 teams compete, and the top three seeds receive a first-round bye. The margin for error was thin. PBR's game notes show only two games separated sixth-place Arizona from 10th-place Oklahoma, which sat at 9-17 entering Glendale, while Kansas City, New York, and Florida were all knotted together at 10-16. Missouri, meanwhile, held first place at 18-8 heading into the weekend, underscoring how much ground the middle and bottom of the 10-team league still had to make up.
One rider has been doing the heavy lifting for Arizona during its rough patch. The same PBR report credits Everton Natan da Silva with 10 of the Ridge Riders' 17 qualified rides during the team's 14-game slide, a stretch that pushed him from No. 22 to No. 4 in the PBR Teams MVP standings entering the Glendale event.
Home Dirt Has Been Kind to Arizona
History was on the Ridge Riders' side walking into Desert Diamond Arena. The team carried a 7-5 all-time record at the venue into this homestand, including a 3-0 sweep during their 2024 Glendale event, according to the same PBR account. Only the Texas Rattlers have won more games at Desert Diamond Arena, a detail that speaks to just how important home-field advantage has become for a franchise trying to stop the bleeding.
Viewers who wanted to follow along had several options. National broadcast coverage was split across platforms, with Paramount+ streaming the early weeknight games, CBS carrying the weekend Games of the Week, and The CW airing the Saturday finale, per PBR's broadcast schedule.
Ownership and a League Still Growing
Teton Ridge, a Western sports media and entertainment company, owned the newly formed Ridge Riders before the 2022 season. PBR Teams itself has grown quickly since then, expanding from eight original teams in 2022 to 10 with the additions of the New York Mavericks and Oklahoma Wildcatters in 2024, a structural shift that also shaped Arizona's recent trip to Fort Worth for Rattler Days at Dickies Arena.
Glendale's stake in professional bull riding extends well beyond this single homestand. Desert Diamond Arena was selected earlier in 2026 to host the PBR World Finals championship weekend from May 20 to 23, 2027, marking the first time the league's championship event will be held in Arizona. That announcement, detailed in Hoodline's earlier coverage of the city securing the finals, positions Glendale as an increasingly central hub for the sport heading into next year — even as the Ridge Riders spend this October simply trying to climb back into playoff position on their own home turf.
