TGL, along with Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy, announced the schedule for the 2025 season.
The schedule features 15 games played on Monday and Tuesday nights from January through March, with all six teams playing each other once. So each team will play five games, all of which will be played at the SoFi Center in South Florida.
But Monday's schedule announcement revealed five important lessons about this whole new venture. So without further ado, here are five things we learned about TGL.
5. ESPN is committed
January is dominated by American football, with both the College Football Playoff and NFL postseason taking place. The entire country pays attention to these two sports, especially in the depths of winter when outdoor activities are restricted. ESPN is a major player in both, building its programming around these two giants, but still remains committed to TGL.
That should bode well for the launch and future of this startup league.
The schedule begins on Tuesday, Jan. 7, just two days after Sentry, the first event of the PGA Tour's 2025 season. The season opener will pit New York Golf Club (Xander Schauffele, Matt Fitzpatrick, Rickie Fowler, Cameron Young) against The Bay Golf Club (Ludvig Oberg, Windham Clark, Min Woo Lee, Shane Lowry) and will be broadcast on ESPN. 9pm ET.
Of course, it's worth noting that The World Wide Leader in Sports will also broadcast college basketball from major conferences during this time. But they do have a prime-time slot for this season's TGL opener. This speaks volumes about how ESPN views TGL.
Next week, ESPN will air the second TGL game at 7pm ET, just one day removed from one of the biggest broadcasts of the year, the NFL's Monday night wild card game.
Similar sentiments can be expressed regarding the third game of the season, scheduled for Tuesday, January 21st. The day before, ESPN will be broadcasting the college football national championship game live from Atlanta, a game that always receives high viewer ratings. You have to understand that the network will be promoting TGL matches during that broadcast, but this can only be beneficial for the brand.
A total of 16 games will be broadcast in prime time, with the first seven available on ESPN and ESPN+.
4. President's Day Showcase
Further to the points above, TGL and ESPN are scheduled for a tripleheader on Presidents Day, Monday, February 17th. There seems to be a bit of a gap in the sports calendar every year, as many Americans have that day off. The Super Bowl is the week before, so football doesn't interfere with that. Therefore, many college basketball programs schedule games during the day on Monday. The NBA and NHL have historically done the same thing.
We plan to do the same for TGL.
The Presidents Day tripleheader begins at 1pm ET on ESPN, with Atlanta Drive GC (Justin Thomas, Patrick Cantlay, Billy Horschel, Lucas Glover) taking on Los Angeles Golf Club (Colin Morikawa). , Saheth Segala, Tommy Fleetwood, and Justin Rose). ). Atlanta Drive GC will then take on The Bay Golf Club at 4pm ET. Fans can watch on ESPN.
In the nightcap, The Bay Golf Club takes on Boston Common Golf (Rory McIlroy, Keegan Bradley, Adam Scott, Hideki Matsuyama) on ESPN2 starting at 7pm ET.
Game 4 of TGL will take place on Tuesday night at 7pm ET on ESPN as New York Golf Club takes on Jupiter Links Golf Club (Tiger Woods, Max Homa, Tom Kim, Kevin Kisner) .
This is a Presidents Day showcase and further proof that ESPN is committed to TGL.
3. Player-friendly schedule
The 2025 schedule included a lot of logistics, but the players and their location took priority.
For example, TGL's first match scheduled for January 7, 2025 will be held on a Tuesday. Officials want to give the players time to travel from Maui to South Florida, where the Sentry is scheduled to finish two days early. All matches for the first three weeks of TGL are played on Tuesday nights, partly for this reason, but also due to the soccer influence as outlined above.
The fourth match of the inaugural TGL, featuring the debut of Boston Common Golf (Rory McIlroy, Keegan Bradley, Adam Scott, Hideki Matsuyama), will be held on Monday, January 27th, with the first scheduled match on Monday. Ru. McIlroy's Boston Common will face Woods' Jupiter Links Golf Club. However, TGL officials postponed the match to Monday due to the Farmers Insurance Open.
Because CBS broadcasts the AFC Championship every year, and the AFC Championship and NFC Championship games receive a lot of attention on the last Sunday of January each year, we have decided to reschedule the Farmers Insurance Open for 2022. did. That year, tournament officials changed the first match. The first round ended on Wednesday, and the final round ended on Saturday, so there was no direct competition with the NFL. CBS Sports host Jim Nantz has famously convened the Farmers Insurance Open remotely for the past few years, doing so from Baltimore in January.
Nevertheless, the Farmers Insurance Open concludes Saturday night at Torrey Pines in San Diego, and TGL players still have two days before returning to South Florida for Monday night's match.
One caveat is the Presidents Day tripleheader, which concludes the day before the Genesis Invitational in Los Angeles, on Sunday, February 16th. Since the match will be played the next day, we may see some tired and jet-lagged players. on that Monday.
2. $160 ticket
Last week, the Ryder Cup and its hefty $750 ticket price made headlines in the sports world. Golf fans around the world were dissatisfied with the numbers, pointing out how the PGA of America had ignored the “common fan,” as Bethpage Black, known as “The People's Country Club,” It was an ironic turn of events as they will be hosting next year's tournament.
Despite this, TGL revealed that single match tickets for the 2025 season would start at $160, sparking further complaints online. The SoFi Center can accommodate up to 1,500 fans, creating an intimate “greenside” experience for attendees. Ticket sales start Tuesday, October 29th 10am
It remains to be seen whether demand will justify that price.
1. No Tiger and Rory Week 1
Despite their well-known names throughout the TGL, Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy will not be playing in the league's opening game on January 7th.
Woods underwent another hip surgery. However, the procedure is not expected to affect play in the TGL. But this schedule quirk means it will take an extra week to prepare. He is scheduled to make his TGL debut on January 14, the day after the college football national championship game.
The 15-time major champion last practiced at the British Open Championship at Royal Troon, but failed to qualify. However, he said at the time that he would hold two major exhibitions in December. First, he will compete in the Hero World Challenge, an exclusive field event held annually in the Bahamas. And Woods and his son Charlie will compete again at the PNC Championship, a father-son event in Orlando just before Christmas. However, Woods did not mention these events immediately after his latest surgery in September. His health is once again shrouded in mystery.
Meanwhile, McIlroy will once again begin the season in the Middle East. He has won the Hero Dubai Desert Classic four times, including the last two, and will return to Emirates Golf Club in January to defend his title. Because of these obligations, McIlroy and his Boston Common Golf Club will not make their TGL debut until January 27, eight days after the conclusion of the Hero Dubai Desert Classic.
Jack Mirko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation's Playing Through. Be sure to check it out @_PlayingThrough Cover more golf. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko In the same way.
