Frank McCourt’s PJL sold its first franchise to a race car driver.
The Premier Jumping League (PJL), the new global show jumping competition we brought you details of on Sportune, has sold its first franchise ahead of its scheduled April 2027 launch. American racing driver and investor Jason McCarthy purchased the team for $50 million through his family’s McCarthy Family Office.
This operation makes the McCarthy Jumping Team the first official franchise owner in PJL. Jason McCarthy and his wife Newsha own horse ranches in New York and Florida; their daughter Natalya is a junior racer.
PJL is to bring together 16 teams across 14 international venues in Europe, North America and the Middle East, using an economic model centered on sponsorship and broadcasting. Among the riders expected is world number one Scott Brush.
Frank McCourt is the founder and president of PJL.
The league is supported by McCourt Global, the investment company of American businessman Frank McCourt, founder and president of PJL. The owner of Olympique de Marseille, McCourt also previously owned the Los Angeles Dodgers baseball team, as well as a 50% stake in the Global Champions Tour, a popular show jumping series. He is also the founder of the Miami Celtics diving team.
The sale comes three months after the competition announced a $300 million guaranteed prize fund, one of the largest investments ever made in equestrian sports. By comparison, the Global Champions Tour distributed €22 million during its flagship events in the previous season, including €10.5 million for the final in Riyadh and more than €11.4 million for the knockout stage in Prague.
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To support its launch, PJL has teamed up with production company Box to Box Films, which created the Formula 1 documentary series Drive to Survive. The league, which is currently working with the Federation Equestrian Internationale (FEI) as part of the approval process, also announced a tender in May from twenty production companies to appoint its official broadcaster for the inaugural 2027 season.