Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson was announced Monday as the lead owner of the Maryland Colts, a team competing in the National Thoroughbred League, a team-based professional sports league centered on thoroughbred horse racing that is entering its second season.

Jackson, who attended this year’s Preakness, said in a release that it was a “great opportunity.” Other investors in the league include NBA legend Julius Erving, country singer Tanya Tucker, rapper Nelly, rapper Rick Ross and New York Giants linebacker Kayvon Thibodeaux.

The NTL also announced in a release that Jackson will launch a program to expose “less privileged children” to the horse racing industry and an apprentice program to give teenagers job training under trainer Chad Brown, a two-time Preakness winner.

“The core values of excellence, teamwork, community, and leadership will help push the program beyond our expectations,” Jackson said. “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.”

The Maryland Colts will be one of 10 teams competing for more than $3 million in purses in the 2024 season, according to the NTL. Thoroughbred owners will be able to nominate their horses to be drafted on to NTL rosters. The horses will then be eligible to run in the NTL races.

The season kicks off Sunday with the NTL Nashville Cup presented by Sticker Mule at Kentucky Downs. Each cup event has five races, and all 10 teams will enter a horse in each race. Teams rack up points over the course of the cup series to determine a winner.

Other teams include the California Shamrocks, Miami Sea Horses, Nashville Dreams, New Jersey Degens, New York Knights, Philadelphia Stallions, Phoenix Mustangs, San Francisco Unicorns and Seattle Gems.

“Walk a racetrack with Lamar Jackson and you’ll immediately understand his capacity to captivate an audience,” Randall Lane, co-founder of the NTL, said in the release. “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.”