The National Thoroughbred League (NTL) added several key investors to join their roster of team owners, including NBA legend Julius Erving (Philadelphia Stallions) and country music's Tanya Tucker (Nashville Dreams), as the league expands from six franchises to ten ahead of its second season, the operation said in a release on Thursday.
This time around the league will boast almost $3 million in prize purses, up from less than $1 million last year. Erving and Tucker join NTL's list of partners, including Nelly, Rick Ross, Kayvon Thibodeaux and Moira Forbes, as well as numerous veteran investors.
“I've been fortunate to have experienced first-hand the passion that Philadelphia fans bring in support of their athletes and teams,” NBA legend Dr. J said. “The unique model that National Thoroughbred League has created–not only bringing team-based and civic rooting interests into the sport of horse racing–but also truly letting the sports' best athletes 'enter their stride' as competitive performers inserts such an interesting dynamic into one of society's most popular and storied sports. Philadelphia and horse racing both hold a special place in my heart, and I am proud to help the Stallions build another fan favorite in the Philadelphia market.”
Tickets for the 2024 season are now on sale with Tucker and Erving set to host the first two league events, and a third will take place at the end of the year at Turf Paradise in Phoenix.
- The Nashville Cup, Sept. 1 at Kentucky Downs: Also known as the Million-Dollar Weekend, the event will feature a $1 million kickoff race–one of the biggest purses in the United States this year–and will revolve around celebrating horses and music, hosted by Tanya Tucker and including performances from 10 up-and-coming Nashville stars.
- The Philadelphia Cup, Oct. 19 at Parx Racing: The Oktober-Fast Weekend will feature one of the biggest days of racing in Philly history. The event will consist of five NTL races totaling $1.2 million in purses, an Oktoberfest celebration of beer and music, as well as the NTL's first-ever “Dr. J Invitational” golf tournament.
- The Phoenix Cup, Dec. 30 at Turf Paradise: The Championship Weekend will feature six-figure purses to decide this season's winner, a concert from California Shamrocks owner Nelly, plus golf and food celebrations.
Randall Lane | Sue Finley
After their inaugural season, NTL will be expanding from six to 10 teams–with those new four franchises coming from a finalist pool of Baltimore, Cleveland, Dallas, Los Angeles, Louisville, Miami, San Francisco and Tampa. The final decision will be made this summer, and those four new teams with join the original six franchises: the New York Knights, the California Shamrocks, the Philadelphia Stallions, the Nashville Dreams, the New Jersey Degens and the Seattle Gems.
“Today is an exciting day for the National Thoroughbred League that shows the excitement behind what we've accomplished with our inaugural season and the momentum that we're bringing into this next year of operations,” said Randall Lane, NTL co-founder.
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.
“From the very beginning, our mission has been to create an innovative new format that can generate compelling and competitive races between some of this generation's most exceptional horses,” said Bob Daugherty, NTL co-founder.
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