The “PBR Exodus” is a Myth—Look at the Teams Draft

Ever since 2026 PBR World Champion John Crimber picked up his PRCA card back in February, the rumors have been flying.

The moment Crimber, Kaiden Loud, and Hudson Bolton showed up on a rodeo heat sheet, the armchair critics lost their minds. They immediately spun up their favorite lazy narrative: The riders are fleeing the PBR.

It’s a cute fiction, but it completely misses the mark.

Yes, John Crimber wants to make the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo. He wants a Gold Buckle and an NFR average title, just like his father, Paulo Crimber, captured back in 2004. But the internet experts are completely overlooking a simple, undeniable fact: John. Likes. To. Ride. Bulls.

Does hitting a few rodeos mean he’s abandoning his father and walking away from the Florida Freedom? Not by a long shot. It isn’t an exit strategy; it’s just an elite competitor refusing to sit on the sidelines when there are bulls to be ridden.

Exposing the Double Standard

What’s truly exhausting here is the blatant double standard from the rodeo traditionalists..

When PRCA giants like Sage Kimzey and Josh Frost crossed over to PBR Teams in 2023, nobody claimed rodeo was dying. Nobody accused them of “fleeing” the PRCA. The PBR celebrated them, the fans cheered, and everyone moved on.

Yet, the moment a PBR superstar wants to pull double duty, the critics treat it like a betrayal.

Meanwhile, they conveniently ignore the fact that the traffic into the PBR is running heavier than ever. The league actively touted 2023 PRCA World Champion Ky Hamilton declaring for the draft, which triggered a blockbuster trade to land him with the Nashville Stampede as the No. 2 overall pick.

But if you want the ultimate reality check for the haters, look at the No. 1 pick.

The Kansas City Outlaws used the top spot to draft 20-year-old Wyoming sensation Hayden Welsh. Welsh is a red-hot rookie sitting at No. 5 in the PRCA world standings. Let’s be real: if the PBR were a sinking ship, a young gun on a direct trajectory for a rodeo gold buckle wouldn’t be signing up to ride for J.W. Hart.

The Critics are Flat Wrong

If there were actually an “exodus” happening, the traffic would be a one-way street. It obviously isn’t.

At the end of the day, more money and more opportunities for bull riders should be celebrated, not ballyhooed or twisted into negative gossip. In fact, over the past twelve months in PBR, eight riders earned $600,000 or more, 10 earned $500,000+, and 29 earned $300,000+.These guys risk their lives every time they nod. If they want to stack cash in the PBR and chase history in the PRCA, they’ve earned that right.

So to the armchair critics trying to invent drama around John and the others: give it a rest. Your narrative doesn’t hold water, and the tape from last night’s draft just completely blew your theory out of the water.

Picture Courtesy of: PBR Picture Credit: PBR/PBR Graphics