Billionaire TGL owner: Peak ratings 4x expectations

As TGL ponders its next moves following its inaugural season, one team owner feels the league outperformed all internal expectations.

Marc Lasry, the former co-owner of the NBA's Milwaukee Bucks, owns the TGL franchise The Bay Golf Club and told Front Office Sports on Friday why he was so blown away by the league's TV ratings in 2025.

The golf simulator league launched by Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy played 15-hole team matches in prime time on Mondays and Tuesdays this winter. Lasry explained that league owners felt they could draw around 10 percent of the audience of a standard PGA Tour event.

"We came to the conclusion you'd at least get 250,000," Lasry said. "So, ESPN would be happy, and I think the league would be happy."

Instead, the league peaked at 1 million who tuned in for Woods' TGL debut on Jan. 14. TGL matches averaged 513,000 viewers on ESPN's platforms.

"The idea was you did a three-year deal, and that if things worked out, you would have a new media deal based on the fact that more people are watching," Lasry told Front Office Sports. "And if things didn't work out, it was fine -- at least ESPN got a fair deal. I think the first season actually worked out far better than we thought."

It remains to be seen how TGL might build on the first season. It may consider expanding to a seventh franchise, and TMRW Sports CEO Mike McCarley, who co-founded the league with Woods and McIlroy, acknowledged they were "working on" a possible women's league.

--Field Level Media