7 Takeaways From Tiger Woods’ TGL & FanDuel Sportsbook Betting Partnership

TGL (Tomorrow’s Golf League) made its long-anticipated debut Tuesday night. I had the opportunity to cover its inaugural event live from the SoFi Center in West Palm Beach, Florida. Golf fans were tuned in for the unfamiliar chance to see competitive golf on ESPN in primetime. The internet had no shortage of opinions, both favorable and critical, about Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy’s new venture. Whether that intrigue translates to genuine interest throughout the 11-week TGL betting season remains to be seen.

With so much conjecture surrounding the fledgling simulator league, here are seven things I learned from covering the first TGL event, including its partnership with FanDuel Sportsbook.

TGL odds

For a complete primer on how TGL works, team details, and how to bet on it, check out our TGL odds page.

What I love about TGL

True Star-Making Platform

We have seen The Match take established stars and pit them against each other or celebrities with mixed results. We have also seen Netflix’s Full Swing peel behind the curtain of up-and-coming talents, like Tom Kim and Sahith Theegala, without necessarily diving into their on-course performance.

TGL bridges the gap. We have a closed circuit of the PGA Tour’s biggest needle-movers competing against one another. They’re also mic’d up to let their personalities shine.

Stars drive fandom, and the PGA Tour is in a star deficit in a post-Woods era. TGL has the opportunity to develop the tour’s most marketable players, and we saw that on full display with Ludvig Aberg’s personality and clutch shot-making.

Team Golf Is Fun!

Is it hypocritical to love watching the team aspect of TGL while being critical of LIV’s implementation of team franchises? I don’t think so. The most salient difference between TGL and LIV is that the former is complementary to an entire season of individual stroke play while the latter is in place of it.

Playing team golf has a unique thrill, which coincides with the camaraderie of hitting a big shot that wins a hole for your team. This makes scrambles so fun for amateurs, and that fun carried through in the broadcast (at least from The Bay’s side).

Engaging Fan Experience

The SoFi Center is intimate, with panoramic views of the hitting and putting areas. There is no bad seat in the house, and it does a great job keeping the energy up throughout the event with music, an emcee, and promotions between commercial breaks.

The fast pace of the TGL format is a huge win for keeping prospective new golf fans engaged. Fitting a 15-hole match into a palatable two-hour broadcast window opens many avenues for keeping the attention of casual golf fans and the TGL betting community.

New In-Match Features Are A Hit

The shot clock and hammer are incredible and universally well-received by the players and fans. In the post-game press conference, members of the New York Golf Club were asked if there were any elements of TGL they would like to see translated to the PGA Tour, and unanimously responded, without hesitation: “shot clock.”

The pace of play is a barrier golf needs to overcome to keep its viewers engaged, and the shot clock addresses that perfectly.

The hammer went underutilized in Match 1, but it is a fan-favorite component that energized the crowd whenever used. Throwing down the gauntlet against your opponent and daring them to beat you is a perfect way to inject drama into these events.

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Looking ahead: opportunities to grow and improve

Golfers Must Learn To Be Entertainers

In the post-match press conference, both NY Golf Club and The Bay Golf Club acknowledged they are still figuring out how to simultaneously reconcile being competitors and entertainers. The competitive part comes easily. However, playing to the cameras and creating a more entertaining product for viewers in between shots is something that all TGL players need to make a more concerted effort to do for this league to soar.

Over time, rivalries may develop, or more genuine smack talk between opposing players.

Betting Interaction: Futures & Live Odds Markets

FanDuel Sportsbook was announced Monday as the official TGL sports betting partner. FanDuel will offer wagering options for all matches, with live odds integrations to be featured through TGL’s broadcast.

Unfortunately, TGL odds are not yet widely available in all legal sports betting states in the US, which presents a barrier for golf fans seeking a more vested interest in the new league. As the season goes on, FanDuel will roll out TGL betting markets for pre-event and live prop wagers. This is paramount to keep fans (and bettors) engaged.

I would also love to see more at-home fan commentary on the broadcast. This could include featuring live tweets on the telecast. TGL offers an exciting new outlet to introduce the PGA Tour’s best players to a younger demographic that may not otherwise be tuned in to weekly PGA Tour events.

There is a real opportunity to grow the game by taking an engagement-first approach to win over younger viewers.

More In-Game Tactics

Blowouts are unsuitable for TV viewing or drama, so let’s bend the rules and add safeguards to help keep matches interesting.

If there’s a competitive imbalance, like in Match 1, what if the trailing team could implement a handicap to level the playing field if it is down by three or more strokes? Think “Phone a Friend” on Who Wants to be a Millionaire?

Similar to the hammer, what if the trailing team could play a “handicap” against the other team for a given hole? This could mean hitting one shot blindfolded or off-handed, playing a hole with wooden clubs, or shaking the arena with the heartbeat feature. We’re already introducing the hammer into gameplay, so let’s take it a step further with other fun features.

The less serious TGL takes itself, the more successful it will be. Make this an entertainment-first product that happens to be played by the best competitors on the PGA Tour. We could start seeing this league and the TGL betting market take off.

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