What we learned from Stampede Days, Professional Bull Riders Team Series in Nashville

When JW Hart was a professional bull rider himself, he won his first event in Nashville. On Sunday, the now-Kansas City Outlaws coach notched another win.

Kansas City was one of six teams to finish the Nashville homestand of the Professional Bull Riders Camping World Team Series at 2-1. That sent the event to an extra outs period, where Outlaws rider Cassio Dias was the lone competitor to successfully ride his bull for eight seconds in the extra period.

"You want to say that's what you expected," Hart told The Tennessean. " ... First and foremost, we expect everybody to do exactly that."

The event, which was held for three days at Bridgestone Arena, was the second annual Stampede Days, the name given to the Nashville homestand. The PBR Team Series began in 2022, with each of the eight teams hosting one homestand. Unlike the original PBR events, which feature individual competitors, the Team Series pits eight teams of five competitors in head-to-head games. Each team competes in three games across each homestand and the team with the best record at the end of the weekend is the champion.

In 2022, despite finishing last in the regular-season standings, the Nashville Stampede won the inaugural PBR Teams Championship.

Here are five takeaways from Stampede Days:

Nashville showed out

Attendance was high for each of the three nights. Friday saw 7,456 fans, while Sunday's attendance was 7,849. But the highlight was Saturday, when 13,112 attended. It was the first time any of the PBR Teams Series events sold out in any city, according to Stampede general manager Tina Battock.

"We like to be the pacemaker, the trendsetter," Battock told The Tennessean. "We're really excited that we were able to do that and get that. We're doing a lot of firsts. So we are the first champions, and now we're the first sold out night and so that's exciting for us."

Some fans came decked out in blue and yellow Stampede gear, while others held signs. A lucky 7-year-old was awarded a belt buckle and the fan of the game award for wearing his own replica bull riding helmet. The attendance is just one sign that there is an appetite for bull riding in Nashville.

Dias dominates

Kansas City won in large thanks to the contributions of Cassio Dias, who went a perfect 4-for-4 in his rides and scored over 90 points three times. Dias also had the decisive ride in extra outs, where he scored a 91.25 and was the only successful rider in the round to secure the victory.

"It's good to see a guy that, a year ago, was down on his luck and didn't know where his career was taking him," Hart said. "And with the help of Guilherme Marchi, our assistant coach, and just a few little minor changes in our system, he is what he is."

Silvano Alves, Kaiden Loud lead Stampede

The home Stampede saw just two successful rides in the three-game series, but they made both count.

On Friday, Nashville defeated the Missouri Thunder, 88-0, on a walk-off win from Silvano Alves. On Sunday, it was 18-year-old Kaiden Loud, who recently graduated from high school, who gave the Stampede the 90-0 win after being awarded a re-ride on his first attempt.

"He's not covered a bull yet at this level," Battock said. "And so to see him do that, it's a scary kind of situation on his first out and then to go out there and conquer that bull was really pretty cool. And then to get a 90-point ride was really amazing. So I think that's the beginning of a lot of really amazing things for him. So we're excited to see. So I think you've got that monkey off his back and now he's ready to go."

A Vanderbilt appearance

Among the attendees at Sunday's event were a group of Vanderbilt running backs. A photo on social media showed Patrick Smith, Chase Gillespie, Sedrick Alexander, AJ Newberry, Deago Benson and Isaiah Fontan at the event along with running backs coach Jayden Everett.

Vanderbilt is less than a week out from its opener against Hawaii on Aug. 26.

Dramatic ending

Six of the eight teams finished the weekend 2-1, which put all of them in a tense extra outs period. Similar to a penalty shootout in soccer, in extra outs each team selects one pen of bulls and three riders. The first selected rider from each team takes a turn, with the highest score winning. Only if no one successfully completes a ride does a second extra period commence.

While the PBR Teams Series is no stranger to extra outs, six teams is the most to participate in an extra period this season, giving the event a dramatic finish.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: What we learned from Stampede Days, Professional Bull Riders Team Series