Sports Tech Atlanta The Win Column

SPORTS TECH ATLANTA  /  THE WIN COLUMN  /  JUNE 2026

The win
column.

adidas onto the Ladies European Tour's biggest stage. NTangible into the largest mental‑performance dataset in youth sports. TeamSportz onto the floor with the Essex Rebels. Three of our clients, three signed partnerships, one busy spring — and a look at how we help make them happen.

BY STERLING MACK Founder & Managing Director, Sports Tech Atlanta

01| GOLF — FOOTWEAR & EVENT·2026 SOLHEIM CUP Signed

Ladies European Tour × adidas

€40M+ The LET's 2026 prize purse — a tour record, and the backdrop for a marquee footwear deal.

The Ladies European Tour has named adidas the Official Footwear Supplier of the 2026 European Solheim Cup Team, with the brand also signing on as an Event Supporter of the Solheim Cup itself. When Team Europe takes the course at Bernardus Golf in the Netherlands from September 7–13, adidas will outfit the captains, players, caddies and helpers — right down to tournament staff — and put a limited‑edition women's shoe on sale exclusively at the event.

It's a meaningful piece of business. adidas joins a partner roster that already includes PING, Skyscanner, Rolex and John Deere, and steps in on footwear while PING continues as Team Europe's apparel partner. More broadly, the deal is a marker of where women's golf is heading commercially: a record purse, a packed 29‑event calendar, and brands competing for a place inside the game's biggest team event.

STA's role

As the LET's partnerships and content partner, Sports Tech Atlanta works alongside the tour to package its commercial story and keep its momentum in front of the brands and audiences that matter. Wins like this one are exactly what the work is built to produce.

02| SOFTBALL — PERFORMANCE DATA·EXPANSION Signed

NTangible × Alliance Fastpitch

20,000 athletes assessed every year — the largest single mental‑performance initiative in youth sports history.

NTangible — the cognitive‑performance analytics company behind the Clutch Factor score — is expanding its partnership with Alliance Fastpitch, the largest youth softball organization in America. Under the new agreement, close to 20,000 athletes aged thirteen and up will be assessed annually, with a standardized mental‑performance score built directly into Alliance's player‑development pipeline.

The significance is hard to overstate: for the first time, a full generation of fastpitch players will reach the recruiting market carrying comparable, portable, validated data on the part of the game everyone talks about and no one has been able to measure. NTangible now works across seven sports, with thousands of assessments delivered to collegiate programs, pro environments and youth organizations alike — and this expansion plants its flag firmly in the future of softball.

STA's role

Sports Tech Atlanta represents NTangible's commercial growth — opening doors across leagues, teams and youth ecosystems, and helping translate a category‑defining technology into the kind of headline partnership that moves a young company forward.

03| BASKETBALL — TECH & BROADCAST·UK Signed

TeamSportz × Essex Rebels

One platform scheduling, video, stats, communication and live broadcast — across a full professional club.

TeamSportz — the club‑management and performance platform already trusted by Basketball England — is teaming up with the Essex Rebels, the only professional basketball and volleyball club in Essex. The Rebels field a men's side in British Championship Basketball and a women's side in Super League Basketball out of the Essex Sport Arena, home to one of the most decorated gameday experiences in the British game.

Through the partnership, TeamSportz puts its full toolkit to work for the club: training and game scheduling, video capture and tagging for evidence‑based feedback, performance stats, secure team communication, and live broadcast of Rebels fixtures. It's a clean example of sports technology doing the unglamorous, high‑value work — making a club run sharper on the court and reach further off it.

STA's role

Sports Tech Atlanta drives TeamSportz's commercial expansion, connecting the platform with leagues, clubs and rights holders on both sides of the Atlantic — and helping turn product strength into signed, visible partnerships like this one.

HOW SPORTS TECH ATLANTA WORKS

We make
partnerships
happen.

Sports Tech Atlanta is a boutique sports advisory and marketing firm. We sit between leagues, teams, brands and investors and do the work that turns sports IP into signed commercial momentum — from first introduction to closed deal to the story that carries it.

01

Find the fit

We start with positioning and matchmaking. Before anyone pitches anyone, we map where a brand, league, team or investor actually creates value for the other side — so the conversations we open are the ones with a real reason to close.

02

Broker the deal

Then we do the commercial work: scoping, structuring and negotiating partnerships that hold up. Retainer, commission or a blend — we shape the terms, run the process and get to signature, acting as an agency‑of‑record partner rather than a one‑off broker.

03

Build the story

A signed deal is only half the value. We amplify every win through our owned media engine — the STA newsletter, the Seed Talk Podcast and a personal brand with real monthly reach — so our clients' partnerships land loudly and keep working long after the announcement.

ENGAGE US ACROSS THREE TIERS → ADVISORY/GROWTH/PARTNER

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Riviera Was the Tipping Point — and the Money Knows It

STA Field Notes  ·  Women's Golf

Riviera Was the Tipping Point — and the Money Knows It

Nelly Korda willed in a putt for the ages. Charley Hull came up a shot short again. But the bigger story is the one playing out off the leaderboard: women's golf is finally getting the windows, the purses, and the partners to match its talent.

Sports Tech Atlanta Sterling Mack June 8, 2026 7 min read

For two feet and ten inches, the 81st U.S. Women's Open hung on the lip of the cup. Nelly Korda's par putt at Riviera circled the rim, threatened to spin out, and then — to a roar from one of the most cinematic amphitheaters in American golf — dropped. World No. 1. Fourth major. One-shot win. Destiny, more or less, on prime time.

It was the kind of finish that sells a sport. And it arrived at exactly the moment women's golf has the infrastructure to capitalize on it.

Korda closed in 69 to finish eight under, holding off a congested, star-laden leaderboard at a venue better known for Hogan and Bogart than for the women's game. The win was worth a record $2.5 million from a record $12.5 million purse — the largest payday in the history of women's major championship golf. It was her fourth victory of 2026 and her second major of the year, making her the first woman since Inbee Park in 2013 to win the season's opening two majors. At 27, she's the youngest American to reach four majors since Mickey Wright in 1960. Only the Evian or the AIG Women's British now stands between her and the career Grand Slam.

$12.5M

Record purse — largest in women's major history

4th

Korda's major title; her 4th win of 2026

1

Stroke margin over Hull & Lopez at Riviera

2013

Last time a player won the year's first two majors (Park)

The Near-MissCharley Hull keeps writing the most compelling subplot in the game

If Korda is the sport's gravitational center, Charley Hull may be its most marketable story — precisely because the ending keeps eluding her. The Englishwoman authored the round of the weekend, an eagle-laced final-day 67 after a Saturday 65, and at one stage early on the back nine she stood alone at the top. Dropped shots at the 12th and 14th undid it. A clutch sand save at the 17th wasn't quite enough.

It was her fifth runner-up finish in a major, in roughly her 62nd attempt — a tie for second alongside Mexico's Gaby Lopez, one agonizing shot back. The maiden major still hasn't come.

2026 U.S. Women's Open · Final · Riviera CC

1

Nelly KordaUSA · 73-67-67-69

−8

T2

Charley HullENG · final-round 67

−7

T2

Gaby LopezMEX

−7

Here's the marketing truth that's easy to miss: a sport doesn't need every star to win. It needs them to be findable and followable. Hull — charismatic, aggressive, a fan favorite who keeps putting herself in the final pairing — is exactly the kind of crossover figure casual audiences latch onto. The near-miss isn't a failure of the product. It's a reason to tune in next time.

"Women's golf doesn't need to prove it has stars. It needs enough consistent exposure for casual fans to learn their stories."

The Real HeadlineThe exposure problem is finally being solved

For years, women's golf was trapped in a maddening loop: it needed attention to earn better broadcast windows, and better windows to earn more attention. In 2026, that loop is breaking. For the first time in tour history, every LPGA event and every round is positioned for live national coverage — a genuinely new era of broadcast distribution built around Golf Channel, a new title-sponsor era, and Trackman-driven production.

That matters because rhythm precedes loyalty. When players are visible week to week, fans build habits, stars become familiar, and — this is the part the sponsors care about — media value becomes measurable and repeatable. The macro data backs it up: Nielsen logged roughly 46 billion minutes of women's sports consumed in the U.S. in 2025, and the LPGA's 2025 season carried a record prize fund of around $131 million across 32 events. The audience and the dollars are both moving in the same direction at the same time. That's rare, and it's the condition under which categories take off.

The European EngineWhy the LET is the most underrated growth story in the sport

Most of the U.S. coverage will fixate on the LPGA. But the more interesting commercial signal is coming from the Ladies European Tour, which has quietly engineered the most aggressive expansion of its 48-year history.

For the 2026 season, the LET will play for a record prize fund of more than €40 million — the first time it has ever crossed that threshold — across 30 events in 21 countries and five continents. A third of those events now carry purses of at least €1 million; ten events raised their purses year over year. Golf Saudi's PIF Global Series climbed to $15 million, the Aramco Championship is co-sanctioned with the LPGA, and the calendar added a new event in Mauritius and welcomed back the Women's Australian Open. The season culminates in the 20th Solheim Cup, in the Netherlands.

€40M+

LET 2026 prize fund — a record, first ever above €40M

30

Events across 21 countries, 5 continents

⅓

Of events now carry €1M+ purses

$15M

PIF Global Series, co-sanctioned with the LPGA

Read those numbers as a brand strategist, not a fan. A global footprint across 21 markets is an inventory story. Co-sanctioning with the LPGA is a reach-multiplier. Rising purses signal that promoters and title sponsors are underwriting the category, not subsidizing it out of goodwill. And players like Hull, Lottie Woad, and Mimi Rhodes give the tour a roster of recognizable, English-speaking faces at precisely the moment global broadcast appetite for women's sport is spiking.

The Honest CaveatMomentum is real. Inevitability is not.

A word of discipline before anyone declares victory. Women's golf has had "breakthrough" moments before that didn't compound — U.S. Women's Open TV ratings, in particular, have swung hard year to year depending on venue, finish, and whether the marquee names made the weekend. Record purses are partly fueled by a concentrated set of backers (Golf Saudi chief among them), which is leverage and risk in the same line item. And "positioned for live coverage" is not the same as audiences actually showing up.

The take-off thesis is credible. It is not automatic. What converts this window into a step-change is execution: consistent storytelling around the stars, brand partners who activate rather than just sponsor, and tournaments that treat the broadcast as the beginning of the relationship with a fan, not the end of it.

The STA Read

Where the advisory opportunity actually sits

The capital and the eyeballs are arriving together. The gap — and the value we help clients close — is in the connective tissue between the two. A few places we're watching:

• Athlete-led brand equity. Hull-type figures are undervalued relative to their crossover appeal. The window to lock in athlete partnerships at pre-take-off pricing is closing.
• Global inventory, local activation. A 21-country LET footprint is only as valuable as the activation built on top of it. That's a strategy problem, not a media-buy problem.
• Sponsor durability. Categories that take off on a narrow set of backers are fragile. Diversifying the partner base is the difference between a moment and a market.
• Tech as the differentiator. Production tech, data, and second-screen experiences are how women's golf converts new live windows into retained audiences — the exact intersection STA was built for.

The leaderboard at Riviera will be a footnote in a month. The infrastructure being built around it won't be.

Korda got her putt to drop. Hull will get another shot at hers. And for the first time in a long time, the business behind both of them looks ready to make the most of it.

Sports Tech Atlanta is a boutique sports advisory and marketing firm operating at the intersection of sports, technology, and investment — and a commercial partner to the Ladies European Tour.

Figures and results reflect reporting around the 2026 U.S. Women's Open and the LET / LPGA 2026 seasons as of publication. Commercial and viewership figures are drawn from tour announcements and third-party measurement (Nielsen). This piece reflects STA's editorial perspective and is not investment advice.

Monaco 2026: Where Luxury Brands Win the Race Before the Lights Go Out

For the first time in a century, the world's most glamorous Grand Prix carries a fashion house's name. Inside the activations, the yacht economy, and the partnership math that turns one street circuit into a global marketing arms race.

@Stemack Sterling Mack

Drive through Monte Carlo this weekend and you didn't just see Formula 1 cars threading the barriers at Sainte Dévote. You saw a brand strategy playing out at 180 mph. The Formula 1 Louis Vuitton Grand Prix de Monaco 2026 ran June 5–7, and the name itself tells the whole story: a near-century-old race that never carried a sponsor now wears one of the most recognizable monograms on earth.

Monaco has always been the place where sport and money openly hold hands. But 2026 marks an inflection point. The race is no longer just a backdrop for brand activations — the brand is the marquee. For anyone working in sponsorship, partnerships, or sports-tech deal flow, this weekend is a live case study in how premium properties and premium brands now fuse into a single product.

01 — The Headline DealLouis Vuitton takes the title

The 2026 race is the first to carry Louis Vuitton's name in Monaco. It's part of a much larger play: parent company LVMH signed a 10-year global partnership with Formula 1 starting in 2025, a deal widely reported in the range of roughly $150 million per year. Monaco becomes the second race to carry the Vuitton name after the Australian Grand Prix, the start of a rotating cycle of title sponsorships at the calendar's crown-jewel events.

The relationship isn't new — Vuitton has been a partner of the Automobile Club de Monaco since 2021, the same year it began crafting the winner's trophy case. What changed in 2026 is the elevation from supplier and partner to title holder: naming rights, a redesigned trackside graphic identity built around speed, broadcast exposure, and a full week of commercial activation. As Vuitton's leadership framed it, taking the Monaco title was a "natural decision" given how the partnership had grown.

"Victory travels in Louis Vuitton." — the slogan stamped into the bespoke Monaco trophy trunk, finished in red monogram canvas for the Principality's flag.

02 — The Era Before From TAG Heuer to LVMH: a 12-month transformation

To understand why 2026 matters, rewind one year. The 2025 race made history of its own: TAG Heuer became the first-ever title sponsor of the Monaco Grand Prix, ending a streak that ran unbroken since 1929. The Formula 1 TAG Heuer Grand Prix de Monaco 2025 brought iconic Monaco-model clocks into the paddock, heavy trackside placement, and a commemorative logo.

Here's the strategic thread worth noting: both TAG Heuer and Louis Vuitton sit under the LVMH umbrella. What looks like a sponsor swap is really LVMH cycling its portfolio brands through the sport's highest-value real estate — timekeeping one year, fashion and travel the next. That's not a coincidence; it's portfolio management at the level of a global championship.

03 — The PlaybookWhat a modern title activation actually looks like

The interesting part for partnership professionals isn't the logo on the start-finish line — it's the depth of the activation stack. Vuitton didn't just buy naming rights; it built an ecosystem designed to extend the race well beyond Sunday afternoon:

Retail & product

A Monaco-specific capsule collection that reportedly sold out ahead of the weekend through direct outreach to local clients and F1 fans. A new edition of the Louis Vuitton City Guide for Monaco. The brand's Monaco boutique windows reworked with Grand Prix–inspired displays — turning a physical store into a race-week destination.

Experiential & VIP

Backstage and hospitality access, private boxes, and curated meetings wrapped in the house's world — the kind of money-can't-quite-buy-it access that converts sponsorship dollars into relationship capital.

Digital & fan acquisition

Competitions to win race places, prize draws for exclusive items, and digital activations across the weekend. The goal, in the brand's own framing, is to turn a few hours of racing into a total, multi-day experience — and to keep capturing the younger, more female audience F1 has been winning.

04 — Off the TrackThe yacht-and-hospitality economy

If the circuit is the stage, Port Hercule is the green room — and it might be the most underrated marketing channel in sports. Throughout race week, superyachts moored in the harbour become floating brand activations: client entertainment, sponsor events, private dinners, and invitation-only celebrations that never make the broadcast.

In 2025, the 72.6-metre Lürssen Coral Ocean served as a base for the McLaren team and its sponsors, with drivers spotted on board during race week. MSC's Explora Journeys positioned its newest ship as a floating boutique hotel inside the port. Official F1 Paddock Club Yachts, trackside terraces, and broker-arranged charters round out a hospitality market where a single berth can require a letter of authorization tied to an official team or sponsor.

or brands, the yacht economy is the soft-power layer of an F1 sponsorship: the logo earns reach, but the harbour earns relationships. It's the difference between being seen and being in the room.

The Scene — Race Week in Monte Carlo

Monaco's pull is as much about who's there as what's on track — the paddock crowd, the harbour set, the fashion-meets-motorsport energy that makes the weekend a culture moment. Drop your own race-week photography or licensed lifestyle imagery into the slots below.

05 — The Partnership MathWhy brands pay Monaco prices

None of this is vanity spending. The numbers behind Monaco explain why luxury keeps writing bigger checks — and why the audience profile is exactly what premium and high-growth brands are chasing.

The story the data tells: Monaco is growing in exactly the markets and age brackets advertisers fight hardest for, with rising female and younger viewership. That combination — scarcity, prestige, and a demographic on the upswing — is what justifies premium pricing and lets a single weekend anchor a year of brand storytelling. Controlled scarcity is the asset; the race is just the delivery mechanism.

06 — The F1 SceneThe race: chaos in Monte Carlo

The commercial spectacle was wrapped around a genuinely pivotal sporting moment. 2026 brought what many consider the biggest regulation change in F1 history — new power units and new chassis — and Monaco's tight street circuit was the first real test of whether the new cars could produce racing rather than a procession. It delivered, in the most dramatic way possible.

Championship leader Kimi Antonelli converted his pole into a commanding lights-to-flag victory for Mercedes — his fifth win in a row, and his fifth in the season's six races. But behind him, the weekend unraveled into one of the most chaotic Monaco Grands Prix in years. Max Verstappen suffered a power-unit failure and retired before the end of the opening lap. Home hero Charles Leclerc crashed out, triggering a red flag and writing another chapter of Monaco heartbreak for the Monégasque. Seven drivers failed to finish, including McLaren's Lando Norris. A second red flag flew on lap 68 of 78 when the track surface began breaking up at the final corner, forcing a standing restart that Antonelli handled flawlessly.

Antonelli now leads the Drivers' Championship by 66 points over Hamilton with six of 22 rounds complete — and his teammate George Russell left Monaco pointless after penalties dropped him to P14. The result is still settling: Alpine requested a review of the penalties that cost Pierre Gasly a podium, and a post-race penalty stripped Cadillac of what would have been its maiden points finish.

Monaco has always sold a fantasy. What's changed is who's holding the pen. In 2026, the title sponsor isn't behind the glamour — it is the glamour. For brands, leagues, and the people who broker between them, that's not a footnote. It's the new playbook.

Sterling Mack

Managing Director, Sports Tech Atlanta

Sports Tech Atlanta is a sports-technology advisory firm brokering partnerships between leagues, teams, brands, and investors. We help rights-holders package commercial assets and help brands turn sponsorships into measurable activation programs.

Showjumping Just Entered Its Premier Era

The Premier Jumping League launches with a record-shattering $300 million prize pot — and an ambition to transform one of sport's most storied disciplines forever.

By Sports Tech Atlanta Staff  •  May 2026  •  5 min read

There’s a new league in town — and it’s arriving on horseback. The Premier Jumping League (PJL) officially launched in late March 2026, and the equestrian world hasn’t stopped talking since. Backed by American billionaire Frank McCourt and his investment firm McCourt Global, the PJL represents arguably the most ambitious restructuring of elite showjumping in the sport’s modern history.

$300M

GUARANTEED PRIZE POT

16

COMPETING TEAMS

14

INTERNATIONAL VENUES

Those numbers alone would be enough to make headlines. But the PJL’s ambitions go far beyond prize money. The league has set out to solve a problem that has plagued equestrian sport for decades: the absence of a sustainable, professional economic model for riders.

“The PJL is changing that by creating a clear and viable path for athletes to earn a great living by competing at the highest level, without compromising the traditions and values that define jumping.”

— Frank McCourt, Founder & Chairman, Premier Jumping League

A New Model for a Sport That Deserves One

For generations, showjumping has occupied a peculiar space in the sports landscape — beloved by insiders, breathtaking to watch, and yet frustratingly inaccessible to mainstream global audiences. The PJL is designed to change that equation entirely.

Rather than asking fans to pay to watch, the league is committed to a free-to-view broadcasting model — a bold choice that prioritizes audience growth over short-term revenue. Partnering with Emmy Award-winning production company Box to Box Films (the studio behind Formula 1’s beloved Drive to Survive), the PJL is betting that with the right storytelling, showjumping can captivate millions who’ve never seen a course walked.

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The Riders, The Teams, The Stage

The PJL’s inaugural season launches in March 2027, running through October across 14 iconic venues spanning Europe, North America, and the Middle East. Sixteen teams will be assembled through an industry-first rider selection process drawn from a pool of the world’s top 250 showjumpers.

The launch event in Miami offered a glimpse of who’s already on board. Some of jumping’s most celebrated athletes attended, including Scott Brash (currently ranked world number one), Laura Kraut, Ben Maher, Harry Charles, McLain Ward, and Cian O’Connor, among others. The venue’s waterfront was lit up with a drone light show — a fitting symbol of a league that plans to bring spectacle alongside sport.

Why This Moment Matters for Sports Tech

From a sports technology perspective, the PJL is a case study in how data, media, and investment can converge to reimagine a legacy sport. The centralized sponsorship and broadcasting model means the league controls its own narrative — and can build consistent, data-rich fan experiences from day one.

McCourt, who previously held a stake in the Global Champions Tour and founded the show jumping team the Miami Celtics, brings firsthand knowledge of where equestrian sport’s commercial infrastructure has fallen short. His involvement signals that the PJL isn’t a vanity project — it’s a calculated long-term bet on showjumping’s untapped global appeal.

Horse & Rider Welfare at the Center

Beyond the commercial architecture, the PJL has made a notable commitment to prioritizing the wellbeing of both horses and riders. In an era of heightened scrutiny around athlete welfare across all sports, this framing matters — particularly given showjumping’s unique dynamic where the welfare of a non-human athlete is equally paramount.

The model is designed to allow riders to “devote themselves fully to excellence” without the financial pressures that have historically forced elite equestrians to juggle commercial obligations alongside competitive careers.

The Bigger Picture

The PJL joins a growing list of challenger leagues — from the IPL in cricket to LIV Golf and TGL in golf — that have demonstrated appetite for reimagined formats in traditionally conservative sports. What distinguishes the PJL is its emphasis on sustainability and accessibility rather than simply throwing money at the problem.

With Box to Box Films handling production and a free-to-air strategy designed to maximise reach, the league has the content infrastructure to make showjumping’s extraordinary blend of precision, power, and partnership between horse and rider visible to audiences who’ve never encountered it before.

The inaugural season doesn’t start until 2027 — but the groundwork being laid right now will define whether the Premier Jumping League becomes showjumping’s Drive to Survive moment, or simply another ambitious venture that never quite cleared the bar.

We’re betting on the former.

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© 2026 Sports Tech Atlanta  |  matchsportstech.com  |  Content sourced from Horse & Hound, BusinessWire, Sports Illustrated

The Premier Jumping League (PJL) Ushers Showjumping Into A New Era

Sports Tech Atlanta

• Equestrian
• Technology
• Leagues
• MatchSportsTech

Equestrian · Breaking News

Showjumping Just Entered Its Premier Era

The Premier Jumping League launches with a record-shattering $300 million prize pot — and an ambition to transform one of sport's most storied disciplines forever.

By Sports Tech Atlanta Staff  •  May 2026  •  5 min read

There's a new league in town — and it's arriving on horseback. The Premier Jumping League (PJL) officially launched in late March 2026, and the equestrian world hasn't stopped talking since. Backed by American billionaire Frank McCourt and his investment firm McCourt Global, the PJL represents arguably the most ambitious restructuring of elite showjumping in the sport's modern history.

$300MGuaranteed Prize Pot

16Competing Teams

14International Venues

Those numbers alone would be enough to make headlines. But the PJL's ambitions go far beyond prize money. The league has set out to solve a problem that has plagued equestrian sport for decades: the absence of a sustainable, professional economic model for riders.

"The PJL is changing that by creating a clear and viable path for athletes to earn a great living by competing at the highest level, without compromising the traditions and values that define jumping."

— Frank McCourt, Founder & Chairman, Premier Jumping League

A New Model for a Sport That Deserves One

For generations, showjumping has occupied a peculiar space in the sports landscape — beloved by insiders, breathtaking to watch, and yet frustratingly inaccessible to mainstream global audiences. The PJL is designed to change that equation entirely.

Rather than asking fans to pay to watch, the league is committed to a free-to-view broadcasting model — a bold choice that prioritizes audience growth over short-term revenue. Partnering with Emmy Award-winning production company Box to Box Films (the studio behind Formula 1's beloved Drive to Survive), the PJL is betting that with the right storytelling, showjumping can captivate millions who've never seen a course walked.

🏇

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Sports Tech Atlanta

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The Riders, The Teams, The Stage

The PJL's inaugural season launches in March 2027, running through October across 14 iconic venues spanning Europe, North America, and the Middle East. Sixteen teams will be assembled through an industry-first rider selection process drawn from a pool of the world's top 250 showjumpers.

The launch event in Miami offered a glimpse of who's already on board. Some of jumping's most celebrated athletes attended, including Scott Brash (currently ranked world number one), Laura Kraut, Ben Maher, Harry Charles, McLain Ward, and Cian O'Connor, among others. The venue's waterfront was lit up with a drone light show — a fitting symbol of a league that plans to bring spectacle alongside sport.

⬥

Why This Moment Matters for Sports Tech

From a sports technology perspective, the PJL is a case study in how data, media, and investment can converge to reimagine a legacy sport. The centralized sponsorship and broadcasting model means the league controls its own narrative — and can build consistent, data-rich fan experiences from day one.

McCourt, who previously held a stake in the Global Champions Tour and founded the show jumping team the Miami Celtics, brings firsthand knowledge of where equestrian sport's commercial infrastructure has fallen short. His involvement signals that the PJL isn't a vanity project — it's a calculated long-term bet on showjumping's untapped global appeal.

Horse & Rider Welfare at the Center

Beyond the commercial architecture, the PJL has made a notable commitment to prioritizing the wellbeing of both horses and riders. In an era of heightened scrutiny around athlete welfare across all sports, this framing matters — particularly given showjumping's unique dynamic where the welfare of a non-human athlete is equally paramount.

The model is designed to allow riders to "devote themselves fully to excellence" without the financial pressures that have historically forced elite equestrians to juggle commercial obligations alongside competitive careers.

⬥

The Bigger Picture

The PJL joins a growing list of challenger leagues — from the IPL in cricket to LIV Golf and TGL in golf — that have demonstrated appetite for reimagined formats in traditionally conservative sports. What distinguishes the PJL is its emphasis on sustainability and accessibility rather than simply throwing money at the problem.

With Box to Box Films handling production and a free-to-air strategy designed to maximise reach, the league has the content infrastructure to make showjumping's extraordinary blend of precision, power, and partnership between horse and rider visible to audiences who've never encountered it before.

The inaugural season doesn't start until 2027 — but the groundwork being laid right now will define whether the Premier Jumping League becomes showjumping's Drive to Survive moment, or simply another ambitious venture that never quite cleared the bar.

We're betting on the former.

Showjumping PJL Frank McCourt Sports Business Equestrian Sports Tech

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Sports Tech Atlanta

Connect. Compete. Innovate.

Sports Tech Atlanta is the Southeast's leading hub for sports technology networking, investment, and innovation. Bridging elite sport and the tech ecosystem.

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Also on the site

• How Wearable Tech Is Changing Equestrian Performance Analysis
• Box to Box Films: The Production House Remaking Sports Storytelling
• From Dodgers to Dressage: Frank McCourt's Sports Portfolio

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Content adapted from reporting by Horse & Hound, BusinessWire, and Sports Illustrated.