The first TGL season had drama, surprises and stars, but is it here to stay or will the curiosity factor fade for fans?
Mike McCarley is the visionary behind TGL. The tech-infused golf league he founded with Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy partnered with the PGA Tour to deliver fast-paced competition in an indoor arena that features a massive screen and real grass short-game areas, blending virtual play with live action for a modern fan experience.
But even McCarley, a former Golf Channel/NBC Sports executive, didn’t envision singer Celine Dion performing an impromptu a cappella, golf-themed version of "My Heart Will Go On" or Buffalo Bills QB Josh Allen deciding to hold his bachelor party at a match. Those moments happened organically before the inaugural season ended with a dramatic 17-foot birdie putt by Billy Horschel on the penultimate hole that secured the championship for the Atlanta Drive.
“It was a blackout moment,” Horschel said. “I went crazy.”
The second year of TGL begins on Sunday with the raising of Atlanta Drive GC’s inaugural championship banner to the rafters at SoFi Center before a rematch between Atlanta and finalist New York as TGL makes its network TV debut on ABC.
Arthur Blank, the owner of the Atlanta Drive, boasted during a celebratory event he hosted in August at the Tour Championship in Atlanta that 23 million people watched the opening season of TGL on ESPN and ESPN2, with an average of 800,000 viewers per telecast. He noted that golf was attracting more women, more young people, and a more diverse audience, and he cited that more people played "screen golf" than the real thing. He also claimed that the top-selling sets at his chain of PGA Tour Superstores were junior sets. Blank even said that if he could buy stock in TGL, he would, three times. McCarley, TGL's president, joked that maybe he should be working on taking TGL public.
Prominent sponsors have been added for the second season, including Hankook Tires and Farmers Insurance as founding partners, which is a promising sign for the upstart league.
Before, TGL was selling a dream. Now, there are hard numbers to back things up, but the big question remains: Could TGL simply be a fad with a curiosity factor that wears off and a viewership that realizes they are watching golfers hitting at a wall? Will Tiger Woods (and to a much lesser extent Justin Thomas) being on the sidelines while recovering from back surgery diminish interest?
TGL is launching a series of upgrades and innovations to make the second season potentially even better. To its everlasting credit, it didn’t wait to make it better in the first year, introducing some fixes on the fly.
Time will tell if TGL stock will remain a “buy” in its second season or endure a sophomore slump.
This article originally appeared on Golfweek: Will TGL second season build on momentum Tiger Woods Justin Thomas
Category: General Sports
