PBR has made a major move, officially rebranding its women’s rodeo division as PWR—Premier Women’s Rodeo.
PBR recently made a big announcement, officially rebranding its women’s rodeo division as PWR, Premier Women’s Rodeo, unveiling a bold new vision aimed at elevating opportunity and visibility for female rodeo athletes. The launch of PWR marks a powerful expansion of what began in 2021 with the Women’s Rodeo World Championship, now stepping into a new era with a broader mission and an even bigger platform.
PBR CEO Sean Gleason and PWR Commissioner Linsay Rosser Sumpter announced the new brand on The Cowboy Channel, explaining that the goal isn’t to start over, but to build upward. “It’s an extension to what we started many moons ago,” Gleason said, adding that PWR is designed to become the premier global stage for cowgirl athletes.
Rosser Sumpter echoed the same, emphasizing that this is not a replacement for the WRWC so much as an evolution that builds on its foundation for the future. “It’s not a new thing,” she said. “PBR has always believed in this brand, we’re just digging deeper into the roots of what PBR has done for professional bull riding, and that’s exactly what we want to do for the women in the industry.”
The PWR structure will mirror the format that’s been so successful for the WRWC, including year-round qualifying through the Virtual Rodeo Qualifier (VRQ) system. Female athletes in breakaway roping, barrel racing, team roping, and goat tying can earn points from anywhere, all season long, toward the championship events.
In another big announcement tied to the rebrand, the 2026 PWR Championship will take place May 12–15 at Cowtown Coliseum.
This announcement comes at a time when the conversation around equal money for the ladies is louder than ever. On her appearance on the In The Loop Podcast, Linsay put it plainly saying that adding breakaway roping without equal pay is ‘like giving the ladies a seat at the table but handing them an uncrustable while everyone else gets steak.”
Though the ladies of rodeo do recognize and appreciate the opportunities they have been given, the push for bigger and better is strong. The PWR was built with a vision and has the potential for something much bigger. PWR is not a new beginning, but it is a major step forward.