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Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy's new TGL is about to launch. Next Tuesday, the inaugural season will get underway with the very first match in history. Ahead of that, the league has been hard at work securing broadcasting deals in a variety of places.
The league was already partnered with ESPN to broadcast in the United States. ESPN or ESPN2 will have the matches and they will also be available for subscribers on ESPN+.
They recently secured a deal with Sky Sports for England, Ireland, and a few other European countries. Sky Sports is one of the most prominent golf television networks globally. It's not available everywhere, though, which is why TGL has now secured a few more television deals.
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According to the golf reporter Josh Carpenter, Woods and McIlroy's joint venture has now signed with channels in China (Shinai Sports), Latin America (Claro), South Africa (Super Sport), and Southeast Asia (BeIN Sport).
This is a significant development. No one has taken an official swing for TGL, but they already have worldwide audiences ready and television networks lining up to broadcast their events.
In contrast, it took LIV Golf a long time after formation to secure even one TV deal. They now broadcast on the CW to a national audience, but TGL had no trouble getting that sort of deal (on a bigger scale) and more before even officially launching.
It speaks to the excitement around the product and the pull that both McIlroy and Woods have. The first match will debut next week on January 7.
Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy discuss delayed TGL launch
In a perfect world, TGL would be entering its second season. The initial launch date was January 2024. The league is about to start one year later after a roof collapse caused the year-long delay.
Per Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy, that was actually a good thing. Woods said via Palm Beach Post:
"I think it was a blessing in disguise. We were rushing to get it ready. I don't think we had all the components we have now, and we certainly didn't have the technology we're able to have now. It worked out for the best for us as players, for the fans, and I think for everyone watching."
He believes they're going to be able to deliver a much better product, one that wouldn't have been possible a year ago. McIlroy admitted that it's been a much bigger endeavor than they initially considered.
The Irishman said:
"Then once you actually try to get your arms around what you're going to do, it turned into a massive undertaking. And it's been really cool to see it go from just that idea when we talked in Tiger's office until it's real now and it's about to launch."
He closed by saying they're both very excited for the official launch next week.
