CINCINNATI—Scripps Sports has entered into a multi-year broadcast deal with Professional Bull Riders (PBR) to bring Premier Women’s Rodeo (PWR) exclusively to Scripps’ national television networks ION and Grit beginning in May.
The partnership will launch with ION and Grit carrying the 2026 PWR Championship, broadcast from Fort Worth, Texas, on Sunday, May 17, at 1 p.m. ET.
Building on this foundation, the collaboration will expand significantly in 2027 to include the original series “PWR: Road to the Championship” on Grit, offering all-inclusive coverage of the PWR season’s competitions, culminating with the 2027 PWR Championship airing across both ION and Grit. In 2027, ION and Grit will broadcast a minimum of 18 hours of women’s rodeo programming over 16 broadcasts.
““Premier Women’s Rodeo further strengthens our leading portfolio of women’s sports and fits in perfectly with the evolution of Grit into a more contemporary Western network,” added Keisha Taylor Starr, general manager of Scripps Networks and Scripps’ chief marketing officer. “Grit is where the spirit of adventure and Western values come alive, and the amazing athletes of PWR are modern trailblazers whose stories, in and out of the arena, will engage a new generation of fans.”
“PWR represents the next chapter in the evolution of Western sports, and this partnership with Scripps Sports gives us an unprecedented national platform to showcase it at scale,” added PBR CEO and Commissioner Sean Gleason. “With ION and Grit, we’re expanding the reach of PWR to millions of households while elevating the visibility of some of the most talented and compelling athletes in sports today. This partnership will bring powerful storytelling to the forefront and accelerate the growth of women’s rodeo in a meaningful way.”
Scripps said the PWR partnership strengthens ION’s position as a provider of women’s sports, with a portfolio including national partnerships with the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA), National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL), Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL), Major League Volleyball (MLV), Pro Cheer League (PCL), ATHLOS women’s track and field and additional marquee properties.
