Frank McCourt’s Equestrian League Sells First Franchise for $50M

The Premier Jumping League, the equestrian competition founded by former Los Angeles Dodgers owner Frank McCourt, has sold its first franchise for $50 million, the league announced on Monday.

The team, which will be called the McCarthy Jumping Team, was purchased by Jason McCarthy. McCarthy, an MIT graduate and an alumnus of quantitative trading firm Jane Street, founded his own investment company, Five Rings Capital. He also drives in the North American division of the Ferrari Challenge, a professional and amateur racing series.

The outsized price tag is an outlier among startup and early-stage leagues, especially considering the Premier Jumping League hasn’t begun competition yet.

SailGP franchises sold for between $5 million and $10 million in the racing series’ first two seasons on the water in 2019 and 2021. That price jumped to $35 million two years later when Marc Lasry’s Avenue Sports Fund led a group that purchased the U.S. team. American businessman Doug DeVos and other investors bought the Danish team, Rockwool Racing for $60 million in 2025.

In the three-year-old Pro Padel League, the New York Atlantics raised funding at a more than $10 million valuation in 2025. Pharmaceuticals billionaire Patrick Soon-Shiong spent between $15 million and $20 million earlier this year to purchase a Los Angeles-based expansion franchise in Major League Volleyball, which is in the first year of a reboot after announcing a merger with the Pro Volleyball Federation in August.

Meanwhile, NWSL commissioner Jessica Berman has said publicly that her league’s franchise valuations were historically below $5 million before healthcare billionaire Michele Kang bought the Washington Spirit for $35 million in 2022. Major League Pickleball, which began play in 2021, has seen its franchises cross into the eight-figure range, with the Palm Beach Royals paying a $16 million expansion fee to join the league last year and the Los Angeles Mad Drops selling a majority stake for $13 million a few weeks later.

The Premier Jumping League is banking on carving out a place in the global equestrian market, which the league values at $300 billion and says is supported by an affluent, worldwide audience. McCourt Global, which is the sole financial backer of the league, announced it in March, guaranteeing $300 million in prize money to be distributed over the first three seasons.

The league expects to launch in April 2027, with 16 teams and 14 international events across North America, Europe and the Middle East. Its broadcasts will be free to view, and the PJL has a documentary series in the works with Box-to-Box Films, the production company behind hit Netflix series Formula 1: Drive To Survive.

McCourt, the executive chairman of his namesake investment company, has a lengthy history with sports. He bought the Dodgers in 2004 before the financial mismanagement of the club and a messy divorce compelled Major League Baseball to take control of the franchise in 2012. He bought 50% of another equestrian competition, the Global Champions Tour in 2014; he later sold his shares in 2022.

McCourt reportedly picked up all but 5% of French soccer club Olympique Marseille in 2016. Forbes estimates he has a net worth of $1.5 billion.