Can the Horseracing League finally crack the code for the team concept, and what do similar formats in other sports tell us?

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The landscape of team and league ownership in sport has changed radically in the last 20 years, and the Horseracing League (HRL) is just the latest example of the world of private equity taking an established product and attempting to turbo-charge the game in the hope of generating huge new revenue streams for both the sport and its new investors. 

There are many different models, including the decision by rugby union's Six Nations to sell a 14.3 per cent share to Luxembourg investment firm CVC for a reported €424 million, and the cash injection into cricket from the launch of the Indian Premier League (IPL) in 2007, with its televised player 'auction'. 

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As for racing, the quest for a season-long 'championship' narrative led to the creation of the Global Sprint Challenge in 2005 and the British Champions Series in 2011, while there have been lots of attempts to inject a team element into the sport, mostly by creating new 'leagues' rather than building on existing racing properties.