The opening night for take two of TGL’s inaugural season has been set, with the new tech-infused team golf league slated for a prime-time debut on Tuesday, January 7, 2025. In America, TGL will be broadcast on ESPN and ESPN+ (outside the USA, broadcast details are still to be confirmed). TGL also has matches scheduled on the succeeding two Tuesdays as well as the league gets underway after its planned launch two months ago was scrubbed after damage to its stadium in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida.
Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy’s TGL delayed until 2025 after venue’s roof collapses
TGL, which consists of six four-man teams featuring many of the game’s top PGA Tour players, was created by TMRW Sports, founded by Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy and former Golf Channel executive Mike McCarley. Rosters have yet to be finalised for all six teams. It has not yet been determined which two teams will play on opening night.
“January is a tremendous time of year for fans looking for prime-time sports,” said McCarley, chief executive of TMRW Sports, “and TGL’s launch will complement the start of the PGA Tour season and take advantage of ESPN’s promotional machine across their coverage of the NFL and college football playoffs.”
New design plans for SoFi Center’s steel-supported structure, the dedicated home of TGL, have also been officially unveiled. The new custom-built venue on the campus of Palm Beach State College, replaces the domed stadium that collapsed on November 14, 2023, when a severe storm caused a power outage, resulting in significant damage to the dome.
With a footprint of 23,000 square metres, the SoFi Center will seat 1,500 wrapping around TGL’s field of play, which is 89 metres long and 46 metres wide and is anchored by a 280-square-metre screen (20 times larger than a standard golf simulator screen) on which uniquely designed virtual holes will be projected. Teams will tee off from real-grass tees, and then as play advances inside 50 metres, players will move to a short-game complex that features changing topography and a special, 37-metre-wide turntable that rotates the green and bunkers to alter pitching and chipping challenges.
