Professional Bull Riders honors event producers Outlaw Partners, Freestone Productions at World Finals in Fort Worth
By Jack Reaney SENIOR EDITOR
Editor’s note: Big Sky PBR is produced by Outlaw Partners, publisher of Explore Big Sky.
What began in 2011 as a one-night show with a set of bleachers pulled together in a sagebrush field and local river guides watching from rafts on top of buses, has become arguably the most unique stop on the Professional Bull Riders circuit. The Big Sky PBR is known for a high-quality, small-sellout-crowd experience with attention to detail and emphasis on both philanthropy and treating the visiting cowboys well.
These are some the reasons why Professional Bull Riders—a Colorado-based professional league that fills stadiums as large as the Dallas Cowboys’ AT&T Stadium and iconic as Madison Square Garden—chooses year-after-year to recognize the three-day Big Sky PBR, held in a 3,000-seat outdoor arena, with the PBR Event of the Year Award.
On Saturday, May 17, the Big Sky PBR earned the distinction for the 11th consecutive year.
Professional Bull Riders CEO Sean Gleason welcomed Outlaw Partners and Freestone Productions, co-producers of Big Sky PBR, to the PBR World Finals at AT&T Stadium to receive the award ahead of Big Sky’s 14th annual bull riding showcase.
Josh Timon, Outlaw Partners COO, said Outlaw is “incredibly proud” of the 11th award.
“This achievement is a testament to the hard work and dedication of the Outlaw Partners team, Freestone Productions and the unwavering support of our Big Sky community,” Timon said, adding a “special thanks” to Lone Mountain Land Company for its partnership and land use agreement for the Big Sky Events Arena.
“Most importantly we need to thank the remarkable athletes, both human and animals, who bring their passion and talent to every performance. The Big Sky PBR is more than just an event—it’s a celebration of spirit, resilience and camaraderie that unites us all,” Timon said.
In July 2024, the Big Sky PBR celebrated its milestone 10th consecutive award with flames depicting “10X” in the arena dirt. On the final night, a 16-year Air Force veteran completed a parachute flyover before local nonprofits Big Sky Bravery and Warriors and Quiet Waters each received checks for $54,375 from the final night’s Calcutta auction. Cowboy Luciano de Castro wrapped the event with a 91-point winning ride and walked out of Big Sky with a big check—in addition, Outlaw held an impromptu paddle raise on the dirt to collect an additional $100,000 to be divided among riders and production staff.
In 2023, Big Sky’s Biggest Week—a series of events culminating in the PBR rodeo—raised nearly $300,000 for local nonprofits. In 2024, the week raised roughly $405,700, according to an economic impact report prepared by Circle Analytics.
The drama, generosity and economic impact of the Big Sky PBR unfolds every year, making it a favorite stop for cowboys who vote on the Event of the Year award.
‘Still the best in the world’
PBR bull stock contractor Cord McCoy was still riding when the Big Sky PBR debuted in 2011, and remembers being around to help hatch the idea. But he wasn’t sure a PBR stop in Big Sky would last long.
“And here we are fourteen years later,” McCoy told EBS in a phone call. “… Still, every year, Big Sky is that event that my family comes to, and we celebrate, and we spend the week with our Big Sky family, in a sense. We look forward to it all year long.”
McCoy was touched by last year’s retirement ceremony for Viper, a bucking bull that was celebrated with a standing ovation. He called it a “once-in-a-lifetime experience” and an example of how Freestone and Outlaw continue to raise the bar every year.
- Watch: McCoy sat down with the Explore Big Sky with Hoary Marmot podcast to preview the 2025 Big Sky PBR and share his wisdom from decades in the game.
While none of the original 45 cowboys who showed up for the first year are still riding 14 years later, McCoy is proud to see the Big Sky PBR become a generational event with fresh talent experiencing Big Sky for the first time every July.
“It’s all new guys, and it’s still the best in the world,” McCoy said.
Ennion Williams, VP of events for Outlaw Partners, said the event producers challenge themselves to improve the experience every year, “and this year will be no different.”
The 2025 event will welcome 12 former contestants from the 14th season of TV series Top Chef to enhance the Golden Buckle VIP dining experience, and Williams said the music lineup is “amazing” with Stephen Wilson Jr. and Chancey Williams performing on Friday and Saturday nights, respectively.
“The cowboys always bring their best and we cannot wait to host them again,” Williams said. “… You will not want to miss this year’s event.”
Jacey Watson, partner and owner of Freestone Productions, reflected on the humble beginnings in 2011.
“Certainly, the site—and what the event has become—has changed tremendously since the beginning,” Watson told EBS in an email. “When my husband Andy and I first stood on that bare piece of land, riddled with rocks and sagebrush, we looked at each other and said, ‘I guess we’re going to build a bull riding arena here.’”
She recalled moving dirt to create the “quaint” arena and adding a few more bleachers on flatbed trailers after strong ticket sales—the transformation of the arena has been “undeniable” in the 14 years since.
“But what hasn’t changed is the energy,” Watson stated. “There’s a mystical kind of magic that snow-globes around this place when fans, cowboys, and bulls come together. Over the years, we’ve made countless memories, and they just keep coming. That energy—it still tingles in your bones. And when you’re here, you know you’re part of something truly special.”
Part of the magic has been famed rodeo entertainer, Flint Rasmussen, who always enjoys jesting the Big Sky crowd in his home state of Montana.
“In addition to the most beautiful views in the world, the people are a mix of rural Montana, Hollywood, Broadway, hippies, and cowboys,” Rasmussen stated in an email to EBS. “There is never a question how great the crowd will be—it just always is.”
He was there for the one-night show in 2011 and remembers seeing fans on rafts atop buses, and is proud to see the Big Sky PBR grow to “three days of high-paying bull riding in the most picturesque little stadium we ever see.”
The rousing voice of announcer Matt West is unmistakable in PBR events like Big Sky’s. He said the people of Big Sky make the event worthy of 11 straight Event of the Year awards.
“An event is only as good as the people behind the scenes and those that show up to enjoy it,” West stated in an email to EBS. “It’s obvious the hard work that goes into a 11-time Event of the Year—add that to the most beautiful setting a bull riding has ever been held, and it guarantees something uniquely special.”
