5 Reasons TGL Could Be Golf’s Next Big Thing

We are one month out from the TGL starting its inaugural season.

I’m going to be covering the simulator league closely, starting with five reasons why it could become a big hit. Next week, I’ll be writing about five reasons why it may not be successful.

For those who need a refresher, I suggest reading through this story I wrote back in March.

The basic premise is that TGL (Tomorrow’s Golf League) is a new 3-on-3 simulator golf league that will take place in January-March of this year. Initially slated to come online in 2024, the league had to postpone play after a storm damaged the state-of-the-art South Florida arena where all of competitions will be taking place.

There are six teams of four players (all PGA Tour players) although only three players from each team will be competing on the weeks their team has a match. Not every team plays each week. Matches will air Mondays and/or Tuesdays on ESPN until a champion is crowned in late March.

The indoor league, backed by Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy, has players hit from real grass tee boxes, fairway surfaces, rough and sand into a giant simulation screen more than 20 times the size of a standard golf simulator. All of the short-game shots will take place on and around an artificial turf green.

Will TGL be successful or fall flat? It’s hard to say for certain but here are five reasons why it will be a hit.

1. This is where you will get to watch Tiger Woods play golf

Earlier this week, Woods shared a pessimistic outlook for his competitive golf moving forward. He isn’t playing in the Hero World Challenge and has no timetable for a return due to lingering health issues (he had what is believed to be his sixth back surgery earlier this year).

Even if he does come back, it’s assumed that he will be a mostly ceremonial golfer. We’ll see him play the first couple of rounds of a major, potentially limping to barely make the cut. Maybe he plays the Genesis Invitational, his own event.

That’s about it. Last year, Woods hoped to play one tournament per month. He ended up only playing five tournaments for the entire year, withdrawing from one of them. Now the 48-year-old (he turns 49 in a few weeks) appears to be in worse shape heading into 2025.

Eventually, he won’t be playing any competitive tournament golf—and I’ll be thankful for that bittersweet moment when it comes. It’s tough to watch him hobble through tournament golf when he can’t handle walking that many holes.

If you want to watch him play in the future, TGL will be where it happens. He doesn’t have to do much walking in this league. There are no weather concerns. It’s a relaxed environment.

Even at his age, Tiger still draws more of an audience than any other golfer on the planet. TGL having him (and his partial ownership of the league) is a huge boost.

He isn’t playing the first week of matches—that is a mistake in my opinion—but his inclusion is bigger than anything else on this list.

2. The TV product and timeslot should be substantially better

Better than what? Basically anything else in golf that we have on broadcast TV.

This league is going to be playing on ESPN at night during a time when the sports calendar for early-week events is barren. Monday Night Football is done. College basketball doesn’t get moving at full pace until March and it’s mostly confined to Thursday-Sunday action. The NHL and NBA don’t have their playoffs until April.

Why wouldn’t a casual golf fan (or even just a sports fan) stop by to check it out?

Golf on TV is typically a terrible viewing experience, but this should be a lot different. The TV window is only two hours and the action promises to be a lot faster paced than a normal tournament. No “Playing Through” or countless ads chopping up the golf into oblivion. No potential for rain delays.

Also, the players will have mics. That alone can improve the TV product.

3. The format should be different than anything we have in pro golf

There will definitely be people claiming that TGL is copying LIV by employing a four-player team structure.

Those people will be missing the point.

LIV had a chance to do something interesting by going with a new take on pro golf. Instead, it’s just a watered-down version of the PGA Tour (with worse talent). It is presented as serious stroke-play golf on regulation courses but everyone with half a brain cell understands that it is not serious golf. The broadcast basically looks the same as the Tour, aside from the commercial load. The teams are supposed to be the differentiator but those groups came together (and change) arbitrarily. There is no obvious reason for anyone to root for a team.

A better option for LIV would have been to steer into the absurd, going head first into maximizing entertainment while completely eschewing the “serious competition” vibe. It should have been YouTube golf with world-class players—matches, challenges and unfettered access.

Will the TGL learn from LIV’s mistakes?

This is simulator golf with guys who are used to competing in majors. There is nothing real at stake. TGL should veer hard into the comedic side, the silly side. It’s not supposed to be taken seriously—there is no need to ferociously protect the integrity of the product.

Whatever makes the broadcast more entertaining should be implemented. The format—each 15-hole match is split into three distinct parts—has some potential in this category. Get weird with it.

4. The unprecedented technology might be really cool to watch

We’ll see on this point but I’m optimistic the viewing experience will draw people in with each swing.

First off, it’s a gigantic simulator screen. And it’s pretty far from where the golfer hits—off real turf (or sand)—so we will see the ball take off with time to register trajectory before hitting the screen.

Secondly, all of the short-game elements are real. The slope of the greens is going to change with each hole. No gimme putts within a 10-foot circle.

I’m also intrigued by the hole design. It’s not like these guys will be playing TPC Sawgrass every week—we’re going to see some Golden Tee architecture. To stress point No. 3 of this article, these designs should be radical rather than looking like a championship course.

And then you have a crowd in a stadium that surrounds the playing area. The arena is a part of the technology here and I’m hoping the crowd is a constant murmur instead of a staid gallery.

All of this might make for a cool viewing experience.

5. The potential for increased gambling interest is there

Even if it’s not a serious competition, that doesn’t mean people won’t gamble on TGL.

And, for a few reasons, the league is set up to be a lot more pleasing for gamblers.

Golf has traditionally been frustrating to track from a gambling perspective because TV can’t show all the players. Bettors may pick a player to win a tournament and only get to watch a limited percentage of their shots—between an onslaught of commercials.

TGL bypasses most of that. It has a relatively straightforward head-to-head format, every shot will be shown and it’s a fast-paced game being played in prime time on national TV. It’s fertile ground for gambling.

“It’s exciting that this group of guys is coming together for a two-hour window and we’re just going to basically hit balls, talk a lot of (trash) and people are going to be gambling on absolutely everything, each and every shot,” Woods said. “Every shot there’s going to be a wager.”

If that happens, there will be a lot of people tuning in purely to see if their bet hits.

Those are my five reasons why TGL could be a smash hit. Next week, I’ll go over some of the parts that could hold it back.

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