Lamar Jackson will own new National Thoroughbred League team
The National Thoroughbred League added two-time NFL most valuable player and Baltimore Ravens superstar quarterback Lamar Jackson as its latest team owner.
Jackson will be a lead owner as part of a group that brings the Maryland Colts to the NTL. The season kicks off Sunday at Kentucky Downs with the NTL Nashville Cup, featuring more than $2 million in purses and a $1 million signature race.
Jackson also will launch a program to expose less-privileged children to one of Maryland’s most storied industries, including free tickets to the NTL Baltimore Cup and an apprentice program to give promising teenagers job training under renowned trainer Chad Brown, a multiple-time winner of the Preakness Stakes.
“I am truly excited to be a part of this great opportunity,” Jackson said. “The core values of excellence, teamwork, community, and leadership will help push the program beyond our expectations. 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 joins Julius Erving, Tanya Tucker, Nelly, Rick Ross, Kayvon Thibodeaux and Moira Forbes, as well as numerous veteran investors, as partners in NTL teams. NTL is a first-of-its-kind racing league reimagining America’s oldest spectator sport by creating a team-based professional sports league by consistently and safely running exceptional horses allowing fans the chance to root for the same stars month after month and year after year.
“Walk a race track with Lamar Jackson and you’ll immediately understand his capacity to captivate an audience,” said Randall Lane, co-founder of the NTL, who attended the Preakness Stakes this year with Jackson. “And it’s that intimate connection and adrenaline that aligns so well with the underlying premise of the National Thoroughbred League. Our league exists to both honor the tradition of one of America’s oldest spectator sports, but also to embed another level of excitement into the sport so that it engages a broad audience and provides them with an exceptional experience. Lamar Jackson and his family have a passion for Baltimore that is palpable and we’re so honored to have them join our NTL family and continue exciting and inspiring the next generation of fans.”
After a successful inaugural season, NTL recently announced its expansion from six to 10 teams along with over $3 million in prize purses for the 2024 season, up from less than $1 million last year. In addition to the Maryland Colts, the three additional teams to join the league are the Miami Seahorses, the Phoenix Mustangs and the San Francisco Unicorns. Thoroughbred owners will be able to nominate their horses to be drafted by one of the 10 NTL teams onto their roster. Those drafted horses, who will represent the teams during the races, will be eligible to run in these NTL races for the $3 million purse pool.
Earlier this year, Maryland governor Wes Moore brokered an agreement to transfer ownership of Pimlico to the state of Maryland and embark on a renovation project to ensure that the facilities will continue to support premium Thoroughbred racing for generations to come and serve as a year-round hub of economic activity for Maryland. Although it is anticipated that construction will be underway at Pimlico for upwards of three years to complete the full renovations, the state is expected to open the track for a special National Thoroughbred League race event in 2025.
After this weekend’s season opener, the NTL will host the Philadelphia Cup on Oct. 19 and the league championship in Phoenix on Dec. 30.