Mike McCarley is the visionary behind TGL. The tech-infused golf league he founded with Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy has partnered with the PGA Tour to offer fast-paced competition in an indoor arena featuring a giant screen and real-turf short game areas, blending virtual play and live action for a modern fan experience.
But even McCarley, a former Golf Channel/NBC Sports executive, didn’t imagine singer Celine Dion performing an impromptu a cappella version of the golf-themed “My Heart Will Go On” or “My Heart Will Go On.” Buffalo Bills Quarterback Josh Allen decides to have his bachelor party at a game. Those moments happened organically before the inaugural season ended with a spectacular 17-foot birdie putt from Billy Horschel on the penultimate hole that secured the championship for the Atlanta Drive.
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“It was a blackout moment,” Horschel said. “I went crazy.”
Billy Horschel of Atlanta Drive GC celebrates his shot against New York Golf Club during the TGL Final at SoFi Center on March 25, 2025, in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida.
TGL’s second year begins Sunday with the inaugural Atlanta Drive GC championship banner raised to the rafters of the SoFi Center before a rematch between Atlanta and runner-up New York as TGL makes its network television debut on ABC.
Arthur Blank, the owner of Atlanta Drive, boasted at a celebratory event he hosted in August at the Tour Championship in Atlanta that 23 million people watched TGL’s season opener on ESPN and ESPN2, averaging 800,000 viewers per telecast. He noted that golf attracts more women, more young people and a more diverse audience, and he cited that more people play “golf on screen” than real golf. He also claimed that the best-selling sets in his PGA Tour Superstores channel were junior sets. Blank even said that if he could buy TGL stock, he would do it three times. McCarley, the TGL president, joked that maybe he should work on taking TGL public.
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High-profile 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.
Golfer Tiger Woods hits the ball from the bunker at the SoFi Center during a golf match between Jupiter Links and the Los Angeles Golf Club in the TGL on January 14, 2025 in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida.
Before, TGL sold dreams. Now, there are some hard numbers to back things up, but the big question remains: Could TGL just be a fad with a fading curiosity factor and an audience that realizes they’re watching golfers hitting a wall? Will having Tiger Woods (and to a much lesser extent Justin Thomas) sidelined while recovering from back surgery dampen interest?
TGL is launching a series of upgrades and innovations to make the second season potentially even better. It must be recognized that he did not wait to improve it from the first year, introducing a few fixes on the fly.
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Time will tell whether TGL stock remains a “buy” in its second season or suffers a second slump.
This article was originally published on Golfweek: Will TGL’s second season build on Tiger Woods momentum Justin Thomas
