Aug
04
2026
Last week, the first phase of the World of Rodeo exhibition opened at The National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City. The first phase of the exhibition focuses on the world’s top professional bull riding organization, the Professional Bull Riders, the PBR. Coinciding with the PBR Heroes and Legends Celebration, the opening of the exhibit served to honor those who have significantly impacted the sport of bull riding and the broader rodeo community. Ideum has been working closely with these partners to reimagine the story of rodeo.
Founded in 1992, the PBR has grown quickly and now features a team-based league as well as individual competitions. In the first phase of the exhibition, we focused on PBR history, along with interactive exhibits that include real-time data and provide scores and standings. History and the celebration of rodeo as an active sport allow fans and newcomers to connect with both Western heritage and a fast-growing, exciting & evolving sport.
The National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum, also known as "The Cowboy" is the perfect setting for this exhibit; not only does it host the Heroes & Legends Celebration, but it has hosted the National Rodeo Hall of Fame for the last 70 years! In addition, The Cowboy has the world’s most extensive collection of American rodeo photographs and paper records. This collection is part of the Donald C. & Elizabeth M. Dickinson Research Center (DRC), a library and archive within The Cowboy Museum. Ideum recently worked with The Cowboy to create a series of interactive, touchscreen-based exhibits that draw from the collections. You can learn more about this work in our portfolio, Exploring Collections at The National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum.
In this first phase, a combination of objects and digital interactives helps tell the story of PBR and rodeo. A centerpiece exhibit acts like a digital jukebox, allowing visitors to the greatest rides in PBR history — including the season's top riders and their top ten matchups. Also included are the latest scores and standings from PBR teams, creating a new, comprehensive exhibit. This exhibit is based on one that we developed two years ago for The Cowboy and PBR. A more compact, traveling version of the exhibit debuted at Madison Square Garden in 2024.
The exhibit also includes an interactive experience called Join the Team, a real-time AR exhibit that lets visitors wear their favorite PBR team jersey and a cowboy hat (if they don’t already have one!). This digital exhibit uses a camera and controllable lights to create images that visitors can instantly download and share. Above these digital exhibits, an LED ticker displays the latest scores and standings from around the league.
In addition to the digital interactives, there are artifacts from PBR and elsewhere in the rodeo world. There is protective gear that has evolved with the sport's development, along with two original PBR cups: the Bud Light Cup and the larger Jerome Robinson Cup. These trophies are now museum-worthy, as PBR and its partner Montana Silversmiths have created an entirely new championship trophy for its 28th season.
Also featured in the exhibition is the 2026 PBR World Championship Buckle. Through a partnership with the U.S. Space Force, this buckle flew aboard the Bullfrog 001 rocket mission in the Mojave Desert. This golden championship buckle, the first ever flown into space, made a rough landing and, while intact, has some visible marks from the journey. A $1,000 check written in 1992, at the founding of PBR, is also on display. The PBR was founded by twenty bull riders, each of whom wrote a thousand-dollar check.
The PBR Heroes & Legends Awards held at The Cowboy last week, that honored a number of individuals who made significant contributions to the PBR and rodeo. Dean Oliver and Charmayne James each won the Ty Murray Top Hand Award. Bull riders, George Paul and Silvano Alves each were awarded the Ring of Honor. Elsie Frost, mother of legendary rider Lance Frost, won the Sharon Shoulders Award. Flint Rasmussen, who had a long career with PBR (and who also helped work on the exhibit) was awarded the Jim Shoulders Lifetime Achievement Award.
The work on the World of Rodeo continues as we prepare to open the entire exhibition in 2027. The focus on rodeo history, as well as current western sports, will continue. A large video wall and a jumbotron are planned, along with new, unique digital interactive experiences. We will continue to share updates as this exciting project develops.
