$100 million in prize money next year: US billionaire launches new show jumping league

Since 2014, US billionaire Frank McCourt had held a 50 per cent stake in Jan Tops’ Global Champions Tour – until 2020. The 72-year-old, who discovered equestrian sport through his second wife and built his fortune through property deals in Boston, buying the LA Dodgers baseball team in 2004 and selling it eight years later for four times the price, does not speak about why the partnership came to an end. The successful businessman, who currently also owns the football club Olympique Marseille, reveals only this much on the subject of the Global Tour: he has learnt a great deal and has decided to carry on.
On 30 March in Miami, the curtain is set to be lifted on what lies behind the PJL logo – the “Premier Jumping League”. But this much has already been leaked in advance:

Whilst the Global Champions Tour/League distributed a total of €22 million in prize money for 2025 and planned a prize money budget of €36 million for 2026 (although the first leg in Doha, along with the prize money, fell victim to the current war), Frank McCourt has pledged a total of US$300 million to the PJL, with US$100 million in prize money in the first year alone, 2027.

COMPETITION FOR THE GLOBAL TOUR

16 teams are set to compete at 14 venues around the world – selected, according to the organisers, from among “250 of the world’s leading riders”. Scott Brash, Lillie Keenan, Harry Charles, Ben Maher, Nina Mallevaey, Carlos Hank Guerreiro and Laura Kraut were already mentioned by the PJL during the preparatory phase, Abdel Said, Cian O’Connor, Nicola Philippaerts, Sophie Hinners and McLain Ward have signed up for the collaboration. PJL, it is announced, ‘is introducing a groundbreaking team format designed to fuel the rivalry and bring a new level of drama to elite show jumping’.

“An Olympic gold medal is great, but it doesn’t pay the bills,” said Laura Kraut at the PJL. Frank McCourt says he also wants this high-stakes league to help “ensure the long-term financial security of the sport, whilst allowing riders to devote themselves fully to their sport and maximise their performance”. Speaking to the Financial Times, he elaborated that “the elitist nature of show jumping has held the sport back and prevented it from being taken seriously as a sport and winning over a wider audience”.

FREE TV BROADCASTING FOR FANS

Frank McCourt, who was awarded the Horsepower Leadership Award for his commitment to the protection and dignity of American horses, also aims to promote young talent through the PJL and pave an effective path into the PJL for them via development and academy leagues. Equestrian experts will oversee all PJL activities and ensure ‘that we uphold the highest standards for riders and horses’.

When drawing up the league’s global tournament schedule, the PJL has prioritised venues offering the best conditions for horses and taken local climatic conditions into account. The TV broadcasts are to be free of charge for fans.