By Garrett Dvorkin | Baltimore Business Journal

Baltimore Ravens superstar quarterback Lamar Jackson is the latest investor in a new horse racing league that wants to bring team competition to one of America’s oldest sports.

Jackson has joined the ownership group of the Maryland Colts, an expansion team of the National Thoroughbred League (NTL), as principal owner. The NTL is a new league that wants to turn horse racing into a team sport by making horse races more like track meets. It debuted last year with six teams spanning from California to New Jersey and expanded to 10 teams for this season, which started Sept. 1. The league also announced it will bring a race to Pimlico Race Course next year even with the track in the middle of renovations.

“There are some big-money purses in this league, and we want to lean heavily into the Maryland horse racing industry with all its history,” said Randall Lane, one of the league’s co-founders. “That was a lot of why Lamar was interested. We were with him at Preakness, and we think he can bring this sport to people who don’t get the exposure and opportunity to be a part of this sport.”

Lane declined to disclose the size of Jackson’s investment or how much money the Maryland Colts have raised thus far.

Lane started the league last year as a way for horse racing to reach a broader and younger audience. Lane decided to try making it a team sport — and attaching those teams to cities and states, much like how the Premier Lacrosse League did — to go after more casual fans.

Horse owners have been attracted to the league because of the large winner purses. The NTL is offering $3 million in prize money this season, up from $1 million last season. There was $2 million up for grabs at the season’s first event at Kentucky Downs just north of Nashville, which featured five races, including a $1 million prize for the final race. That prize is about half of what the Preakness winners take home.

Under league rules, owners nominate their horses to enter the league’s draft pool and the 10 teams draft horses to create their rosters. The teams then compete at league events at tracks across the season. The horses that win the races not only take home a winner’s purse, but they also get points toward their team’s score.

Jackson first heard of the NTL when he attended the Preakness and met with Lane and Kai Cunningham, a Baltimore native and co-investor of the Maryland team. Cunningham, a Forbes 30 Under 30 honoree who runs sports investment company Limited Ventures, said he had a conversation with Jackson, who said he wanted to make more investments to raise his profile as a businessman.

“Lamar knows that the people of this city, many of whom are underrepresented in this sport, look up to him,” Cunningham said. “This is the perfect opportunity for him, and this was a perfect storm that came together.”

Jackson and the Maryland Colts’ homecoming won’t come until 2025 when the league plans on bringing a race to Pimlico. Lane said the league is committed to Pimlico “for the long term” and that he hopes to bring the league back to the track after it completes the $400 million of planned renovations.

Part of the deal for Jackson to be an owner includes the league starting a job training program to help kids from Baltimore’s underprivileged neighborhoods. The apprenticeship program is also sponsored by Chad Brown, a world-famous trainer who is a two-time Preakness winner.

“I believe through our efforts and determination more opportunities will be opened for the youth of the state of Maryland. We look forward to seeing the success of such a great vision become the reality,” Jackson said in a statement.

Photo Credit: Courtesy of the NTL

Issue 289: October/November 2024