If you’re still trying to figure out how TGL actually works, I get it. I was in that boat.
Is it just a simulator league? A fun side project for a few big-name players?
In short, no and no. You should think of it in the same way you think about major sports leagues like the NBA, NFL, MLB and NHL.
“Oh, but it’s not actually like those leagues!”
It’s exactly like those leagues. It’s just in its infancy.
Buckle up. Here are four reasons I believe TGL is on its way to being a major sports league.
1. Team golf is compelling
Golf fans are used to following individual players. Golf is, in its purest form, an individual sport.
TGL flips that. Just like the NBA or NFL, TGL features teams with rosters. Players from across the golf world end up on different teams, competing against each other as units, not as solo acts.
Looks like a sports league, sounds like a sports league …
Think about the Los Angeles Golf Club: Colin Morikawa, Justin Rose, Tommy Fleetwood, Sahith Theegala.
It’s ingrained in our minds that these guys are individual entities so that it’s hard for us to imagine them as one unit. But they are one unit: LAGC. They play as a team.
And as we see each year with the Ryder Cup, Presidents Cup, NCAA Championship and other competitions, team golf is as intriguing as it gets in our sport.
These are franchises made up of professionals who compete against other franchises during a regular season to make the playoffs and ultimately win a championship. It’s even starting to smell like a sports league!
I think we’re one blockbuster trade away from people really catching on but maybe that’s just me.
2. The city-based franchises will feel more natural over time
“How can there be a Boston team if the players don’t live in Boston?”
Here’s kind of a cop-out answer but it’ll suffice for now: NBA and NFL players can live wherever they want so long as they meet their team’s requirements.
I admit there is a difference here. But because golf is an individual-first sport, it would be unfair for a team to require their players to reside in that city, given their primary business is in a new city every weekend.
Think about this: The Lakers don’t force Lebron James to live in Los Angeles but, boy, would it be inconvenient if he didn’t. That’s where his business is!
Pro athletes live where it’s most convenient for them to live—typically close to their home facilities during the season. TGL is played in one venue, the SoFi Center in Palm Beach, Fla. It’s not convenient for them to live in the cities they represent.
That dynamic will feel more natural over time as more arenas in different cities are built.
Which brings me to my next point.
3. There could be home games in the future (but away games are fun, too)
Another common objection: “If all the teams play in one location, how is it a real league?”
This, I’ve also pondered. Why even claim a city if they won’t play in the city?
Just think of it like your home team playing an away game every week—even if they aren’t in front of their home fans, you still root for them, do you not?
Think back to the 2020 NBA bubble. Every playoff team met in Florida and competed in the same venue. Nobody questioned whether the L.A. Lakers were still the L.A. Lakers or if the Miami Heat were still the Miami Heat.
TGL is simply starting in a centralized environment with potential in the future to have home venues across the country (if the money’s right).
4. The team ownership is as legit as it gets
To answer the question of “is this just some exhibition league that may happen for a few years, then go away?”, I’ll raise you this:
The people and entities that own these franchises are the real deal. Most of them are world-class sports franchise owners—people who aren’t flippant with ownership. They will want to see this through until these clubs reach values of other major sports teams.
Here are just a few involved:
- Atlanta Drive GC: Arthur M. Blank (owner of the Atlanta Falcons and Atlanta United).
- Boston Common Golf: Fenway Sports Group, which includes John Henry and Tom Werner (owners of the Boston Red Sox, Liverpool FC and other sports entities).
- Los Angeles Golf Club: Alexis Ohanian, Serena Williams and Venus Williams, with limited partners including Giannis Antetokounmpo, Alex Morgan and Michelle Wie West.
- New York Golf Club: Steven A. Cohen (owner of the New York Mets).
- The Bay Golf Club: Marc Lasry’s Avenue Sports Fund and Stephen Curry, with limited partners like Andre Iguodala and Klay Thompson.
- Jupiter Links Golf Club: TGR Ventures (Tiger Woods’s company) and David Blitzer.
Detroit is set to join the league in 2027 and more markets have submitted bids.
If this doesn’t convince you that this is a legitimate sports league, I’m not sure what will get you over that hump.
TGL won’t replace the PGA Tour. It is trying to build something fans already understand: a team-based, city-based league that fits into the modern sports landscape.
TGL Season 2 debuts on Sunday, Dec. 28, with a championship rematch between New York Golf Club and Atlanta Drive GC. Catch it on ESPN and ABC at 3 p.m. EST.
The Swami
6 months ago
this is decades of improvements away from even becoming a nascent soccer league in USA popularity and value. at least.
no one wants to watch simulator team golf. i’d rather watch washed up LIV players on the course.
if you actually put them on real golf courses in their various “home locations”, they might have something there. of course, then you’re looking at a near direct copycat of LIV, which would be embarrassing.
but this? becoming a major sports league? maybe as major as bowling in the USA (no offense to the bowling lovers but that’s what we’re looking at here as top goal)…