TGL enjoys spike in viewership but TV ratings | Golf News

TGL skilled a surge in viewership following the match between Tiger Woods’ Jupiter Links and Rory McIlroy’s Boston Common.

However, they did not handle to achieve the identical heights as Woods’ debut two weeks prior. The face-off between Jupiter Links and Boston Common was touted as the largest occasion on the TGL schedule for the season, with league co-founders Woods and McIlroy going head-to-head.

The match lived up to its hype, ensuing in the closest recreation in the league’s historical past. After ending in a 3-3 tie, the Jupiter and Boston groups performed out the primary TGL time beyond regulation in the league’s temporary existence, with Woods and Jupiter in the end profitable the tiebreak.

A lift in TV viewership was anticipated after final week’s droop. The recreation between Atlanta Drive and New York Golf Club final Tuesday solely drew in 682,000 viewers on ESPN, marking the league’s lowest viewers following a profitable launch in Week 1 one and Woods’ debut in Week 2.

Luckily for TGL executives, their anticipated increase got here on Monday, with an average of 864,000 tuning in to watch Woods tackle his business companion McIlroy. While these numbers are encouraging, the star-studded lineup nonetheless didn’t surpass the viewership from the circuit’s opening two weeks.

The debut of TGL on ESPN captivated 919,000 viewers in its first week, and the numbers soared previous the million mark the next week, with 1.05 million tuning in to witness Woods’ inaugural recreation for Jupiter Links. Although the fourth week did not surpass this determine, there have been nonetheless highlights to notice.

The broadcast peaked at 1.1 million viewers during an intense time beyond regulation tiebreaker, showcasing the plain draw of the 82-time PGA Tour champion Woods. With Woods in play, TGL’s average viewership hits 932,000, in comparison with 800,500 with out his presence.

McIlroy’s star energy can also be anticipated to spice up curiosity because the season progresses. The Northern Irish golfer expressed optimism concerning the league’s potential to have interaction a new viewers.

“Yeah, it’s certainly created a buzz,” McIlroy acknowledged. “I think that the good thing that we’ve seen so far over at least the first three weeks haven’t got the numbers from yesterday, but the demographic is skewing much younger than a typical PGA Tour telecast.

“The average age is 62, 63. We’ve been in a position to drop that to about 13 years to proper round 50. I feel just below half of the viewers are between 18 and 49. It’s doing what we needed it to do, which is to attempt to entice a youthful demographic to watch golf in a manner that is perhaps more manageable for them and more of a bite-sized model.”