ESPN Acquires US Rights to Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy’s TGL Golf League

TGL, Tiger and Rory’s answer to LIV Golf, officially has a new media home — the ESPN family of networks. Today, ESPN and TGL announced a partnership that would feature golf programming across ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, and ESPN+.

The inaugural TGL match will air on ESPN and ESPN+ in prime time on Tuesday, Jan. 9, the night after the College Football Playoff National Championship. The second match will air the following week on Tuesday, Jan. 16, the night after ESPN’s “Monday Night Football” NFL Wild Card game. All remaining matches will air on either ESPN or ESPN2 and simulcast on ESPN+. Expect plenty of cross-promotion between the league and ESPN’s high-profile broadcasts.

“Innovation and creativity are core to our ESPN mission and TGL will bring those tenets to life for golf fans,” ESPN EVP Rosalyn Durant said. “TGL is going to be a two-hour presentation unlike anything you have seen before. All players will wear live microphones and viewers will have unprecedented access during competition. It’s an exciting landscape for presenting golf and we look forward to bringing it to fans.”

For the uninitiated, TGL was devised by PGA stalwarts Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy as a direct answer to LIV Golf. The Saudi-backed team golf league initially burst on the scene with flashy investments and major golfer signings but cooled off rather quickly once it was clear a major broadcast network would not broadcast its events. LIV eventually settled for The CW as the broadcaster’s first major sports investment. Since then, the CW has added ACC football and basketball, and NASCAR Xfinity racing, but the move at first was a head-scratcher. Fortunately for TGL, they’re headed to the top of the sports broadcasting pantheon.

“We believe ESPN is the right home for TGL presented by SoFi and recognize the strategic benefits of Disney’s portfolio. ESPN is often the first stop for sports fans, no matter the platform, and we’re honored by ESPN’s view that TGL complements their current offering of major league sports,” Founder and CEO of TGL Mike McCarley said. “ESPN has embraced the concept from our very first meeting and we’re looking forward to launching TGL in prime time on ESPN and bringing our teams of the PGA TOUR’s biggest stars to ESPN’s legion of sports fans. The two-hour match format has been designed for today’s sports fan, as it’s rooted in the traditions of golf, but adds technical elements that are unique to a modern, sports arena environment.”