For the first time in 12 years, international show jumping will return to Las Vegas in 2027.
The debut of the Premier Jumping League, a new global team-based showjumping competition, will be presented by Wynn Las Vegas next April.
Vegas was the home of the FEI World Cup Finals six times, with the last edition in 2015. It was scheduled again for 2020, but Covid cancelled that running and it hadn’t been back since.
The competition April 15-17 will be held at a purpose-built venue at the Las Vegas Event Plaza, the expansion site adjacent to the Wynn Las Vegas hotel.
“With horse and rider welfare central to all decision-making at the PJL, particular consideration has been given to the quality of stabling, competition footing and wider equestrian operational requirements,” the organization announced.
Eighty of the world’s leading riders will compete on 16 PJL teams, with $100 million in prize money offered across the League’s inaugural season.
The League previously announced the location for another of its shows, in Hamburg, Germany. While developing its competition calendar, PJL “made a strategic decision to follow the natural movement of the international showjumping circuit, ensuring that neither horses nor riders would be overtaxed by League commitments.”
The League wants to align itself not only with traditional equestrian venues, such as Hamburg Derby Park, but emphasizes “it is equally important to organizers to identify progressive destinations that would enable the PJL to engage audiences in untapped territories, ultimately benefiting the wider jumping ecosystem.”
The PJL will activate at the Wynn’s Concours event this weekend. A celebration of automotive heritage, craftsmanship and innovation, the Concours event brings together car enthusiasts from around the world.
The PJL statement noted, “Las Vegas has been steadily establishing itself as one of the world’s most exciting destinations for international sport – with the presence of Formula One, the Las Vegas Raiders, Super Bowl LVIII, WWE, and now, the PJL.”
Veteran show manager Dale Harvey of West Palms Events, who represented Canada at the international level, will oversee the three-day Las Vegas competition.
PJL CEO Neil Moffitt, brings more than 30 years of experience in global entertainment and hospitality to the League. Moffitt has built some of the world’s most recognizable entertainment brands such as Hakkasan Group, where he served as CEO, Godskitchen and Global Gathering, which grew into Europe’s largest electronic music festival.
Neil founded and sold Angel Management Group, a Las Vegas-based festival and entertainment business, which became one of the largest non-gaming hospitality companies.
PJL President and CEO Nick McCabe formerly ran Hakkasan Group and Pacha Group, overseeing more than 60 premium venues across four continents.
PJL stated, “The leadership team brings a unique combination of local expertise and global entertainment and equestrian sport experience, positioning the PJL to deliver a new chapter in the city’s evolution as an international sporting destination.
“Backed by McCourt Global and its Executive Chairman Frank McCourt, and shaped by leaders from equestrian sport, international competition, and entertainment, the PJL brings together the world’s top riders and horses to compete for the biggest prize pot in the discipline’s history ($300 million in guaranteed prize money across the first three seasons), across iconic venues in North America, Europe, and the Middle East.
The League is designed to open the sport to new audiences in partnership with Box to Box Films (the production company behind F1’s ‘Drive to Survive’), and supported by a free-to-view broadcasting model.
The idea of the PJL concept involves “unlocking the full potential of jumping, demanded by today’s global sports and entertainment marketplace, without compromising its core values.”