TGL, along with Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy, unveiled its schedule for the 2025 season.
The slate options 15 matches on Monday and Tuesday evenings from January by March, as all six groups will play one another as soon as. Subsequently, every staff will play 5 matches, all of which can happen on the SoFi Middle in South Florida.
However Monday’s schedule launch revealed 5 necessary classes about this new enterprise general. So, with out additional ado, listed here are 5 issues we realized about TGL:
5. ESPN is dedicated
January is dominated by American soccer, with the Faculty Soccer Playoff and the NFL’s postseason each happening. Your complete nation focuses on these two sports activities, particularly within the useless of winter when outside actions are restricted. ESPN, a significant participant in each, constructions its programming round these two behemoths, but it stays dedicated to TGL.
That ought to bode properly for the launch—and future—of this startup league.
The schedule begins on Tuesday, Jan. 7, simply two days faraway from The Sentry, the primary occasion of the PGA Tour’s 2025 season. New York Golf Membership (Xander Schauffele, Matt Fitzpatrick, Rickie Fowler, and Cameron Younger) will tackle The Bay Golf Membership (Ludvig Åberg, Wyndham Clark, Min Woo Lee, and Shane Lowry) on this opening match, which can air on ESPN at 9 p.m ET.
In fact, it’s price noting that The World Large Chief in Sports activities airs main convention school basketball throughout this era too. However they’ve a primetime slot for the opening TGL match of the season. That speaks volumes to how ESPN views TGL.
The next week, ESPN will air its second TGL match at 7 p.m. ET, simply in the future faraway from one among its largest broadcasts of the yr: the NFL’s Monday night time Wildcard Recreation.
Related sentiments may be stated concerning the third match of the season, set to happen on Tuesday, Jan. 21. The day earlier than, ESPN will air Faculty Soccer’s Nationwide Championship Recreation dwell from Atlanta, a recreation that all the time attracts large scores. It’s a must to determine the community will promote TGL matches throughout that broadcast, which solely helps the model.
In all, 16 matches will air in prime time, whereas the primary seven may be seen on ESPN and ESPN+.
4. Presidents Day Showcase
Additional to the purpose above, TGL and ESPN have scheduled a tripleheader for Presidents Day on Monday, Feb. 17. Many People have off that day, which has led to a small void on the sporting calendar seemingly yearly. The Tremendous Bowl is the week earlier than, so soccer doesn’t intrude with it. Therefore, quite a few school basketball applications will schedule video games for Monday in the course of the day. The NBA and the NHL have traditionally performed the identical.
TGL will now achieve this as properly.
The Presidents Day tripleheader begins at 1 p.m. ET on ESPN, with Atlanta Drive GC (Justin Thomas, Patrick Cantlay, Billy Horschel, and Lucas Glover) taking over the Los Angeles Golf Membership (Collin Morikawa, Sahith Theegala, Tommy Fleetwood, and Justin Rose). Then, Atlanta Drive GC will tackle The Bay Golf Membership at 4 p.m. ET, which followers can watch on ESPN.
The nightcap will function The Bay Golf Membership taking over Boston Widespread Golf (Rory McIlroy, Keegan Bradley, Adam Scott, and Hideki Matsuyama) at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN2.
A fourth TGL match will observe on Tuesday night at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN as New York Golf Membership will tackle Jupiter Hyperlinks Golf Membership (Tiger Woods, Max Homa, Tom Kim, and Kevin Kisner).
It’s a Presidents Day Showcase and additional proof that ESPN is dedicated to TGL.
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3. Participant Pleasant Schedule
The 2025 schedule concerned a whole lot of logistical gymnastics, however the gamers—and their whereabouts—have been prioritized.
For example, the primary match of TGL, scheduled for Jan. 7, 2025, will occur on a Tuesday. Officers need to give gamers time to journey to South Florida from Maui, the place The Sentry will wrap up two days prior. The primary three weeks of TGL matches will all happen on a Tuesday night, partially because of this but in addition as a result of soccer, as outlined above.
The fourth TGL match of the inaugural season, which can function the debut of Boston Widespread Golf (Rory McIlroy, Keegan Bradley, Adam Scott, and Hideki Matsuyama), will occur on Monday, Jan. 27—the primary scheduled match for a Monday. McIlroy’s Boston Widespread will sq. off in opposition to Woods and his Jupiter Hyperlinks Golf Membership. However TGL officers bumped this match as much as Monday due to the Farmers Insurance coverage Open.
As a result of CBS airs the AFC Championship yearly, and because the AFC and NFC Championship video games obtain a lot consideration on the ultimate Sunday of January yearly, the Farmers Insurance coverage Open determined to change its schedule in 2022. That yr, match officers moved the primary spherical to Wednesday and the ultimate spherical to Saturday so it didn’t compete with the NFL head-to-head. CBS Sports activities Host Jim Nantz has famously referred to as the Farmers Insurance coverage Open remotely over the previous couple of years and did so from Baltimore in January.
Nonetheless, with the Farmers Insurance coverage Open wrapping up on Saturday night at Torrey Pines in San Diego, TGL gamers nonetheless have two days to return to South Florida for his or her match on Monday night time.
The one caveat to that’s the Presidents’ Day Tripleheader, because the Genesis Invitational in Los Angeles wraps up the day earlier than, on Sunday, Feb. 16. With matches happening the next day, you may even see some drained and jet-lagged gamers on that Monday.
2. $160 Tickets
The Ryder Cup and its costly $750 ticket costs made headlines throughout the game final week. Golf followers all over the place grumbled on the determine, noting how the PGA of America disregarded the ‘Widespread Fan,’ an ironic improvement since Bethpage Black, generally known as ‘The Individuals’s Nation Membership,’ will host subsequent yr’s competitors.
Regardless, TGL revealed that single-match tickets will begin at $160 for the 2025 season, resulting in extra grumblings on-line. The SoFi Middle can host as much as 1,500 followers, thus creating an intimate “greenside” expertise for these in attendance. Tickets go on sale on Tuesday, Oct. 29 at 10 a.m.
Whether or not demand will meet that worth stays to be seen.
1. No Tiger and Rory Week 1
Regardless of having their names throughout TGL, Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy is not going to play within the league’s opening match on Jan. 7.
Woods underwent one other again surgical procedure on Sept. 13, however that process isn’t anticipated to influence his play for TGL. But, this scheduling quirk offers him an additional week to prepare. He’ll make his TGL debut on Jan. 14, the day after school soccer’s nationwide championship recreation.
The 15-time main winner final teed it up at The Open Championship at Royal Troon, the place he missed the lower. However he did say then that he would play two marquee exhibitions in December. First, he’s slated to play on the Hero World Problem within the Bahamas, the limited-field occasion he hosts yearly. After which, Woods and son Charlie are once more scheduled to play within the PNC Championship, the father-son occasion held in Orlando proper earlier than Christmas. That stated, Woods didn’t allude to those occasions instantly after his newest operation in September. His well being is as soon as once more a thriller.
In the meantime, McIlroy will start his season within the Center East as soon as once more. He has received the Hero Dubai Desert Basic on 4 events—together with the final two editions—and can return to the Emirates Golf Membership in January to defend his title. Due to these obligations, McIlroy and his Boston Widespread Golf Membership is not going to make their TGL debut till Jan. 27, eight days after the conclusion of the Hero Dubai Desert Basic.
Jack Milko is a golf workers author for SB Nation’s Enjoying Via. Make sure you try @_PlayingThrough for extra golf protection. You’ll be able to observe him on Twitter @jack_milko as properly.