Premier Jumping League (PJL) Receives FEI Approval Ahead of Its Inaugural Season in 2027

With FEI recognition, the league’s rules and regulations have been officially approved. Prize money totaling one million U.S. dollars is to be awarded per CSI5* tournament weekend. The Premier Jumping League could thus surpass the Global Champions Tour as the most lucrative show jumping series.

What initially sounded rather vague has now, at least, received official recognition from the FEI. And it has its first team owner.

First franchise sale: $50 million

Shortly before the FEI approved the league, it was announced that the McCarthy Jumping Team had purchased a team spot in the PJL for $50 million—an amount the league describes as the highest ever paid for a team purchase in a sports league that has not yet launched. The buyer is Jason McCarthy, an MIT graduate and founder of the investment firm Five Rings Capital.

However, it is not yet clear which riders McCarthy will have on his team. As the PJL press secretary stated when asked, the riders will be assigned to the teams by lottery in early November 2026. Only the top 250 riders in the world rankings will be eligible.

When asked whether this meant that you could buy a team for 50 million euros and still not be sure which riders you would get, the response was: “The team owners negotiate contracts directly with the riders—purchasing the team does not guarantee the riders.”

Here’s how the PJL is supposed to work

Sixteen teams compete in the season; player transfers are allowed during the off-season. The teams in 15th and 16th place are automatically eliminated at the end of the season, while the first- and second-place teams advance directly to the finals. Twelve teams participate in the playoffs, and six qualify for the finals. There, they compete for a share of the remaining prize pool of $100 million. The guaranteed total prize pool for the first three years of the league is $300 million.

The three tournament days of each PJL weekend are scheduled to proceed as follows.

Day 1 – The Individual Standings as a Basis

All riders from all teams compete one after another on the course. Their scores are then tallied by team. This results in a team ranking that determines the order in which the teams will compete against each other the next day.

Day 2 – the team competition with elimination rounds

Based on the previous day’s rankings, the teams compete directly against one another. In the first round, all participants ride. After that, each team sends just one rider with one horse onto a shortened course—and this continues through several elimination rounds until the winner is decided in the fourth round. Anyone who makes too many mistakes or is too slow is eliminated.

Day 3 – The Final Jumping Competition

The event concludes with a classic individual jumping competition with obstacles set at a height of 1.60 meters, with $700,000 in prize money up for grabs. The starting order is determined by the team standings from the previous day.

The PJL is committed to deliberately holding jumps over the maximum dimensions only on the third day in order to reduce the strain on the horses.

Neil Moffitt, CEO of PJL, says:

“This approval is the result of a constructive and cooperative dialogue with the FEI. The PJL does not aim to reinvent show jumping or disrupt the existing system. Our goal is to present the sport in a way that protects its integrity, respects its heritage, and creates greater opportunities for all involved. The goal is to position show jumping alongside other elite sports—not as a niche discipline, but as an internationally marketable sports product. I would like to thank the FEI for its positive engagement and look forward to turning the page to the next chapter.”

Background: Frank McCourt and the Story Behind the PJL

The PJL was founded on the initiative of American entrepreneur Frank McCourt, who is no stranger to show jumping. In 2014, McCourt acquired a 50 percent stake in the Global Champions Tour (GCT) through his investment vehicle, McCourt Global —the most commercially significant show jumping series to date, founded by Jan Tops, the Dutch four-time Olympian and 1992 team gold medalist. The partnership gave McCourt several years of insight into the structures and mechanisms of international show jumping.

In 2020, McCourt sold his stake in GCT for approximately 169 million euros to the Tennor Group, owned by German investor Lars Windhorst. The sale did not go smoothly: Windhorst attempted to back out of the deal, and McCourt responded with legal action. The dispute was settled out of court, and the transaction was completed.

Now McCourt is returning to spring sports with the PJL—this time as the sole organizer. McCourt Global is providing financial backing for the league and guaranteeing a prize pool of 300 million US dollars for the first three years.

Who is Neil Moffitt?

It’s interesting that McCourt hired Neil Moffitt as CEO, since Moffitt also has a history with the Global Champions League as the owner of the London Knights, who won the series in 2018 and 2019 and the playoffs in 2021. In 2016, he was also behind Valkenswaard United, the league’s first championship team, which at the time included Moffitt’s daughter Emily. In addition, Moffitt brings more than three decades of experience in the global entertainment and hospitality industry.

In the equestrian world, Moffitt is also known, among other things, as the owner of Poden Farms, for which Ben Maher used to ride. Among other horses, Poden Farms owned Maher’s Superstar Explosion W, on which the British rider celebrated great successes for Moffitt’s London Knights team in the Global Champions Tour and League, in addition to his 2021 Olympic victory in Tokyo. Maher also trained Moffitt’s daughter, Emily.

In 2019, Maher and Moffitt went their separate ways, and Explosion W was sold to Maher’s patrons, Pamela Wright and Charlotte Rossetter—a partnership that continues to this day.

Moffitt’s experience as an entertainment entrepreneur and equestrian insider likely made him a strong candidate to lead a league that explicitly aims to combine both.

About the Premier Jumping League

The PJL is set to become a 16-team league, with games scheduled to take place at 14 venues across North America, Europe, and the Middle East starting in 2027. It is funded by McCourt Global and is partnering with Box to Box Films, the production company behind the Netflix Formula 1 documentary series “Drive to Survive.” The broadcast model will rely on free-to-view access.