The future of golf will have to wait another year. On Monday, TGL announced that its debut would be pushed back a year to 2025.
TGL, the tech-forward golf league backed by Rory McIlroy, Tiger Woods, and the PGA Tour, said that a power outage last week forced their hand. The outage caused the dome at TGL’s venue to deflate, causing damage to part of it.
Here’s more from the league’s statement.
Overnight on Tuesday, November 14, a failure of the temporary power system and backup systems used during construction caused the dome to deflate, which caused damage to the air-supported dome section of the site. There were no injuries, and most of the technology was not impacted. Following discussions with key partners, including players, our six team ownership groups, PGA TOUR leadership and our commercial partners, SoFi, ESPN and Palm Beach State College, the decision has been made to postpone the start of the TGL season until early 2025. This decision came after reviewing short-term solutions, potential construction timelines, player schedules, and the primetime sports television calendar. Despite this new timeline for the venue, we remain excited about the future of TGL and will continue to build excitement between now and the start of the season with our players, fans and teams. We have begun to update plans and timelines and are confident that the extension will only improve our delivery.
TGL events were poised to air on ESPN in 2024 as part of a multi-year rights deal announced in October. The first two events were scheduled on Tuesdays in January following the College Football Playoff National Championship and a Wild Card NFL playoff game, respectively.
McIlroy, Woods, and ESPN’s Rosalyn Durant were among those who made statements in support of TGL’s decision to postpone the debut.
Tiger Woods – “I’ve been a believer in TGL, and as the momentum has built this past year, I’m even more excited about what this can become for fans of the game all around the world. Although the events of last week will force us to make adjustments to our timelines, I’m fully confident that this concept will be brought to life by our great committed players.”
Rory McIlroy – “The postponement brings mixed feelings of disappointment and excitement. Above all, we are happy that no one was injured. We are looking forward to the launch of TGL. Given the circumstances, while the delay is disappointing, the postponement will allow us to regroup, refocus and return stronger.”
Rosalyn Durant, ESPN Executive Vice President, Programming and Acquisitions – “We are partners with TGL and fully support their decision. We have believed in them and their vision from the beginning, and that has not changed. The additional time to plan, test and rehearse will only make it better. We look forward to launching the inaugural season on ESPN.”
Postponing TGL’s debut by a year will suck some wind out of the league’s sails, especially given that LIV will have another year to get its house in order on American soil as a legitimate competitor to the PGA Tour. While TGL won’t be a direct competitor to either the Tour or LIV, there might be less interest in its midweek events if both LIV and the PGA Tour are clicking on all cylinders in a year’s time.
[TGL]
