Former Liberty Media CEO Greg Maffei and Skylark Founder and CEO Danny Epstien are out raising $30mm in an attempt to bring a new team-based competition to thoroughbred racing. 

The pair see a historically prominent sport that still draws massive audiences for tentpole events but struggles to sustain interest between them, and believe, by applying elements of Maffei’s F1 playbook, they can deepen engagement among existing supporters while attracting a broader audience of sports fans and live-entertainment consumers.

The pair aren’t the first to try and reinvigorate horse racing with a league format. However, they are more credible. 

And they’ve seemingly built a stronger mousetrap than those that have come before and failed to catch on. The Horse Racing League (HRL) will combine storied venues with proper storytelling, celebrity owned teams, simplified wagering formats, and partnerships with prominent thoroughbred organizations.

“Our team has had some experience throwing [live] events [that] is perhaps different than others who have attempted this [too],” Maffei said.

Fans in attendance should expect less time between races and more of an ‘interactive’ atmosphere.

Maffei and Epstien aren’t looking to construct the next Triple Crown. In part, because the Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes, and Belmont Stakes operate independently of one another (i.e. it’s not a formal series).

In fact, the absence of an organizing body for it is the reason for the lack of scheduling cohesion and helps explain why the last two winners of the Derby elected not to run in the Preakness, its second leg.

“We’re building a unified series,” Maffei said.

The underlying thesis is that horse racing does not lack fan interest.

“24 million people watched the Derby [on television],” Maffei said. “That’s [40% more] than the Masters.”

And like with golf, horse racing attracts a high-end audience.

But fan engagement with the sport falls off dramatically after its marquee events. Maffei’s new league intends to provide the reason to care beyond a single race and the continuity necessary to cultivate true fandom.

“There [will be] horses, teams, jockeys [and trainers that fans] can get behind [because] they're going to see them regularly,” Maffei said. 

Not just over three race days, but from one season to the next.

“We expect to have a dynasty element,” Maffei said. “Teams will have the ability to bring two horses forward each year and we'll have a smaller draft the second year.”

HRL’s inaugural season will consist of 12 races across three days in March, April and May 2027, with each featuring two turf and two dirt contests.

“We’re avoiding the NFL [and] college football,” Maffei said.

The goal is to build the series to the six days of racing within the next couple of years.

The property believes it can attract new audiences by producing non-race content that is more compelling to the average sports fan than what has historically been available.

“One of the lessons [we’ll take from] Formula 1 was opening up the experience with social media [and] telling the stories better behind [the sport],” Maffei said. 

Simplifying the wagering experience should help too (think: daily fantasy contests). As will running races at some of the sport’s most storied domestic venues.

“We’ve already signed up some of the best tracks on an exclusive basis, including Santa Anita [Park] in L.A., Gulfstream [Park] in Miami, and Keeneland [in Lexington],” Maffei said. 

HRL’s arrangements with those venues enable the league to bring in its own trackside sponsors and create high-end hospitality offerings. They also entitle the league to share in the day’s handle.

“We kind of make the [venue] whole on what they would [have] likely earned and then we have a rev-share [on top of that] to provide incentive for both of us,” Maffei said.

Team ownership will provide another element of continuity to the HRL and support its storytelling strategy. 

“If you followed Drive to Survive, in the beginning, [Mercedes co-owner] Toto Wolff wouldn't even participate,” Maffei said. “By the end, he and [Red Bull Racing’s] Christian Horner were competing for who could get more airtime.”

And it should lend some additional credibility to the endeavor. 

“We've signed up some of the best teams [in the sport], including WinStar and people like Vinnie Viola and Gary Barber,” Maffei said.

Viola is an owner in the NHL’s Florida Panthers and of ’26 Kentucky Derby winner Golden Tempo.

But not all of the league’s owners will come from within horse racing. Several celebrities are expected to buy in too. 

“One of our teams is lining up a bunch of NBA players [as LPs],” Maffei said. “They like [this particular opportunity] because unlike the inability to bet and gamble on themselves in the NBA, here it's almost encouraged.”

Presumably, at least some of those individuals are attracted to the promise of relatively quick returns too.

“We’ve looked at a lot of the emerging leagues, whether it be TGL, SailGP or [the two pro] volleyball [leagues]. We structured [our franchise model] so that the chance the teams will make money in the first few years is way higher,” Maffei said.

That was another lesson adopted from F1.

“Having teams drop out all the time and lose money is not a good story,” Maffei said.

Club owners will pay a franchise fee and purchase their eight horses from HRL. ‘Several’ teams have been sold for fees in the mid-seven figure range.

“We’re about to close on our fourth team and could sell up to five in the first year,” Maffei said.

The league intends to sell the remaining franchises at higher valuations in the years ahead.

10 teams will compete for their share of $10mm in purse prize money during HRL’s debut season. 

“We will [also] award a share of $5 million or 25% of the league profits to the teams [once it is operating in the black],” Maffei said.

HRL franchises will have the ability to sell silks sponsorships and merchandise too.

The league’s early strategy centers on building distribution and audience reach. Events, partnerships and betting activity will serve as its primary revenue drivers.

“Our real expectation [for year one] is to grow exposure so people attend, so that our sponsorship numbers get better, and uniquely here, so we can get increased handle,” Maffei said.

The expectation is that media rights revenue will come eventually as the audience grows.

Of course, not every lesson from Maffei’s time with F1 will apply to HRL—particularly those related to international growth.

“Shipping cars isn't easy, but shipping horses is harder yet,” Maffei said. 

The scale of the auto racing business is also dramatically larger than horse racing.

But much of the underlying playbook should translate and, if it does, just might enable HRL to cultivate a larger, more regularly engaged horse racing audience.

Correction: HRL's research shows that the Kentucky Derby draws roughly 40% more viewers than the peak Masters audience (as opposed to the 20% originally stated).

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