Last August, PGA Tour stars Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy announced the formation of a new “tech-infused” team golf league in partnership with that tour. That TGL (The Golf League) venture, from McIlroy and Woods’ TMRW Sports, has since signed up prominent owners for five of its six franchises and announced a multi-year rights deal with ESPN. And on Tuesday, TGL announced that Woods himself will co-own the sixth team alongside prominent sports investor David Blitzer, with Woods also playing on that Jupiter Links Golf Club team. Here’s more from a TGL release:
“Through its use of technology, TGL is a modern twist of traditional golf and ultimately will make the sport I love more accessible. Having the opportunity to not only compete, but also own a team to represent Jupiter is an exciting next chapter for me. I expect Jupiter Links GC to showcase the golf culture of my hometown as we compete against the best players in the world,” said Woods.
“Tiger Woods is one of the most influential and iconic athletes in the history of sports and I’m thrilled to partner with him to form Jupiter Links GC,” Blitzer said. “Golf is a sport that has a proven ability to bring people together from all over the world and I’m excited by the potential reach and impact we can have as a team and league. By harnessing the power of technology and innovation and leveraging the skill and expertise of the game’s most transcendent and accomplished player, our team is well positioned for long-term success,” said Blitzer.
“Tiger Woods and David Blitzer form a winning combination as the last of TGL’s original six ownership groups for our inaugural season. Tiger and David are prepared to be great business partners with the league and other teams, but both are super competitive in their daily lives and we expect that competitiveness to be on full display inside the SoFi Center in January,” said [TMRW Sports and TGL CEO Mike] McCarley.
Blitzer now has equity in five major U.S. sports teams. He serves as co-chair and managing partner of Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment with Josh Harris, with that portfolio including the Philadelphia 76ers, New Jersey Devils, Prudential Center in Newark, NJ, and Joe Gibbs Racing. He also has ownership stakes in the Washington Commanders (owned by Harris) and the Cleveland Guardians (owned by Larry Dolan), is a general partner in England’s Crystal Palace FC, and owns stakes in many soccer teams (including MLS’ Real Salt Lake and the NWSL’s Utah Royals). But it’s Woods’ ownership stake here that’s perhaps even more interesting.
In many cases, having a co-owner of a league also have an ownership stake in a particular team would seem like a problematic conflict of interest. And that’s before you get into the implications of that owner also playing. And all of that could wind up as a problem here as well. If there wind up being any rules controversies during competition involving Jupiter Links Golf Club in general or Woods as a player in particular, that could bring some negative scrutiny to the league.
But it’s notable that McIlroy is set to play in TGL as well, with him suiting up for Boston Common Golf (led by John Henry, Tom Werner, Mike Gordon, and Fenway Sports Group) alongside Keegan Bradley, Adam Scott and Tyrrell Hatton. So at least the league owners are playing for different teams. And it seems likely that everyone here recognizes the danger of any potential favoritism, real or perceived.
As noted above, TGL does have a multi-year broadcast deal with ESPN, signed last month. They’ll have content debuting there Dec. 30 on ABC, with the first match airing on ESPN on Jan. 9. And now they have their teams and ownership groups fully announced (the others are Atlanta Drive GC, led by Falcons’ owner Arthur Blank, Los Angeles Golf Club, led by Alexis Ohanian, Seven Seven Six, Serena Williams, and Venus Williams, TGL New York led by Steve Cohen and Cohen Private Ventures, and TGL San Francisco led by Avenue Sports Fund with Marc Lasry and Stephen Curry). The rosters of players still has to be filled out, with Boston the only team with four named golfers to date (Atlanta, Jupiter, and Los Angeles each have one, while New York and San Francisco have none), but the teams are now set. And Woods’ involvement there as a team owner and a player in addition to his league ownership interest is certainly notable.
