It’s golf Jim, but not as we know it…
It’s been a pretty eventful seven days for Rory McIlroy and the game of golf. The Northern Irishman began things with the launch of his new tech-focused venture, TMRW Sports - a company he has founded alongside a selection of industry heavy-hitters (none more so than a certain Mr Eldrick Woods) - and ended the period significantly wealthier,? claiming a record third FedEx Cup, following his dramatic victory in the Tour Championship.
He then used the post event press activities to fire yet more shots at LIV golf and those who play in the breakaway tournament. In between, the PGA seemingly fired some shots of their own, with a raft of new initiatives for 2023, most notably the introduction of a tech-driven, stadium-centred format called TGL, in partnership with…wait for it….Rory, and Tiger’s TMRW sports!???
While the PGA’s use of player power to endorse this pretty seismic change was pretty smart, was this a knee-jerk reaction to the LIV Tour? Does golf really need to change??
In my opinion, the golf industry is trying to solve a problem that has no obvious solution. Golf has always needed to attract a wider, younger audience to watch and play the sport and to date there’s only one thing that has successfully done that and I’m sorry, Rory it’s not you.?Don’t say it, don’t say.
TIGER DOESN'T JUST MOVE THE NEEDLE, TIGER IS THE NEEDLE
I was at The Open in St Andrews on the Friday and the Tiger Effect is still in full flow. Sure people want to want Rory, Jordan and co but nobody brings in an audience quite like Tiger. Which obviously makes it all the more exciting he’s behind the TGL, coming to your screens from 2024!
Good news for golf, bad news for LIV?
LIV are hoping to build the T20 version of cricket but for golf.
Tick. tick, tick, tick. Problem is, the TGL is offering all of that but without the likes of a shotgun start, or no cut. Also, it’s on a Monday night so won’t be cutting across the traditional events on the Tour.?
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Personally I don't think the visuals TGL put out don’t look all that exciting but the use of tailor made venues clearly offers huge potential for driving new, faster paced experiences for fans and it was interesting to note the addition of heart rates in the stadium ribbon.
The players will be hitting tee shots in the cinema-sized screen with closer shots being played on ‘the course’. In the official announcement, there’s a lot of comparisons to NBA, an all action, razzmatazz sport that seems a world away form golf in its purest sense.? TGL CEO Mike McCarley said
“For the fans, think sitting courtside at an NBA game. It’s that type of environment, music, player introductions. You’re right on top of the action as a fan. You see everything play out in front of you.”
With Rory adding
“TGL will tap into the appeal of team golf within an exciting, fan-friendly environment, comparable to sitting courtside at an NBA game. TGL will widen the appeal of golf to younger and more diverse fans and serve as another avenue to introduce people to the game I love.”
Golf fans want more access and it seems this is what they're being promised.
You can already hear traditional golf fans moaning about the simulator element of TGL. “Who wants to watch someone hit a ball into a screen?” Well esports has shown us that the market for simulated sports is huge? and that’s what makes this exciting. This isn’t golf as any of us know it, hell it might not even really be golf but it’s something different and for that it should be applauded. Or cheered while chugging your seventh Miller Lite.
While the tech element of TGL is the most exciting, details are pretty vague at the moment. But it’s a fallacy that golf hasn’t already embraced technology. Flyovers are improving all the time, we have shot tracer, strike meter and all sorts of advances in the broadcast. We have access to every single shot hit over the course of the four days of The Masters on their website.
I’m neither Team LIV nor Team TGL at this point, and? I suspect there will be a lot of duff shots along the way (I mean Majesticks? C’mon) but innovation in the sport should be encouraged.?