Canada’s Best Bull Riders Travel to Dallas for 2020 PBR Global Cup USA

ARLINGTON, Texas – Ahead of the 2020 WinStar World Casino and Resort PBR (Professional Bull Riders) Global Cup USA, presented by Monster Energy, the final Team Canada roster has been announced, with the seven-man contingent set to travel stateside under the first-time leadership of head coach Scott Schiffner (Strathmore, Alberta) and assistant Tanner Girletz (Cereal, Alberta).

The fourth edition of the PBR Global Cup, the only nation vs. nation bull riding competition, will make its second stop at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, on February 15-16, 2020. The new team tournament debuted in Edmonton, Alberta, in November 2017, visited Sydney, Australia, in June 2018, and most recently stopped in Arlington this past February.

The PBR Global Cup, the ultimate expression of national pride on an international stage in the sport of professional bull riding, is a five-country competition in which riders compete to become the world’s top bull-riding nation.

Each night of the two-day event, six of Team Canada’s riders will attempt one bull as assigned by the nation’s coach from those bovine athletes in their section. At the conclusion of each evening’s first round, the coach will then choose two riders to attempt one more bull each in the night’s bonus round.

The Top 10 qualified rides from each team will be counted toward their aggregate score, with the highest being named the 2020 PBR Global Cup USA Champion.

In addition to riding for their piece of the $750,000 USD purse, the world’s best bull riders will also be competing for the American horn from the glittering Global Cup trophy with the host nation’s dirt encapsulated inside.

Looking to rebound from a less-than-stellar finish in 2019, Team Canada veterans Dakota Buttar (Kindersley, Saskatchewan) and Zane Lambert (Ponoka, Alberta) headline the roster, selected to the national team for each of the four editions of the event.

Buttar travels to the Lone Star State as the top-ranked rider in the PBR Canada national standings, victorious at both events he’s competed at on home soil. The three-time Glen Keeley Award winner is also the top-ranked Canuck in the world standings, currently No. 17.

Last year in Arlington, Buttar contributed one of the nation’s three 8-second efforts, covering Accelerator for 86 points.

Lambert is a five-time PBR World Finals qualifier and a former Unleash The Beast regular.

In Canadian competition, Lambert is one of only two multi-time national champions, joining three-time PBR Canada Champion Aaron Roy (Yellow Grass, Saskatchewan), and the only athlete to win the Canadian Finals in multiple seasons, let alone back-to-back years (2016 and 2017). 

The veteran duo is joined by Jared Parsonage (Maple Creek, Saskatchewan) and Jordan Hansen (Okotoks, Alberta), both of whom also rode at the 2019 PBR Global Cup USA.

Last year in Canadian competition, Parsonage was one of the most dominant riders on home soil, leading the national standings the majority of the season after winning two event titles on the prestigious Monster Energy Tour.

Prior to the 2019 PBR Global Cup USA, Parsonage also rode on Team Canada for the 2018 edition of the event in Sydney, Australia, going a perfect 3-for-3.

Hansen returns to Team Canada after qualifying for his second-consecutive Wrangler National Finals Rodeo (NFR) in 2019.

Making his debut at the Global Cup in 2019, Hansen led Team Canada, adding two scores, including an 87-point trip on Bottoms Up.

Of the seven men set to travel stateside, Shay Marks (Sunnybrook, Alberta) will make his debut at the event akin to the “Olympics of bull riding.”

For Marks, the selection came after the Albertan had a banner year in 2019.

After undergoing reconstructive shoulder surgery in 2017, the now 23-year-old did not return to PBR competition until January when he made an explosive statement at his first event back.

Marks delivered a dominant 2-for-2 performance to win the season-launch Monster Energy Tour event in Winnipeg. He briefly held the No. 1 ranking in the national standings and concluded the regular-season No. 3 in the national standings having recorded an additional 16 Top-10 efforts.

The final Team Canada members are: Brock Radford (De Winton, Alberta) and Jake Gardner (Fort St. John, British Columbia).

Radford joins the team for the third time in his career, and first since Sydney in 2018, after a knee injury relegated him to the sidelines for the most recent PBR Global Cup.

One of the nation’s most determined competitors, Radford mounted an incredible second-half surge in 2019, first competing on July 4, to qualify for his fifth PBR Canada Finals and finish No. 6 in the nation.

Gardner will ride for the Maple Leaf for the first time since he was a part of Team Canada at the inaugural PBR Global Cup in Edmonton in Nov. 2017. In 2019, Gardner finished a career-high No. 9 in Canada, winning one event, along with logging and additional 11 Top-10 efforts.

Global Cup action gets underway at 6:45 p.m. CST on Saturday, February 15 and will conclude on Sunday, February 16 at 1:45 p.m. CST.

RidePass coverage will begin at 7:45 p.m. EST on Saturday, February 15 and at 2:45 p.m. EST on Sunday, February 16.

On Sunday, February 16 at 12:00 p.m. EST, check your local listing, CBS will televise a one-hour highlight special from the opening night’s bonus round. Also on Sunday, starting at 8:00 p.m. EST, CBS Sports Network will air all the action from the final day of competition, preceded by a 30-minute B&W Hitches pre-show.

Tickets for the 2020 WinStar World Casino and Resort PBR Global Cup USA, presented by Monster Energy are on sale now and can be purchased at the AT&T Stadium Box Office, online at ATTStadium.com or SeatGeek.com, or via the phone at (800) 732-1727.

For more information on the event, including premium experience and elite seats offerings, visit PBR.com/GlobalCup.

Be sure to stay tuned to PBRCanada.com for the latest event information, and follow the team’s journey on Facebook (PBR Canada), Twitter (@PBRCanada), and Instagram (@PBRCanada).