Tuesday’s debut of the new indoor golf league set up by Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy drew a substantial audience for ESPN.
Nielsen ratings reported by Front Office Sports and Sports Media Watch showed the TGL’s inaugural match drew an average of 919,000 viewers during its two-hour run from 9-11 p.m. on Tuesday night, with viewership peaking at 1.1 million from 9:15-9:30 p.m.
It was a good start to the new golf league, which was set to debut last year but had to delay after the roof at SoFi Center in Palm Beach, Florida, collapsed, and managed to draw a 28 percent higher audience than a college basketball game in the same time slot last year.
According to Sports Media Watch, TGL saw a 22 percent increase in viewership from the college basketball game — a contest between Duke and Pittsburgh — that preceded it.
The new league’s season opener was also in the ballpark of nationally televised NBA games that featured the Lakers and Mavericks (1.15 million) and Celtics and Nuggets (1.06 million) that were played Tuesday.
The inaugural match of the TGL featured a 15-hole contest between the Bay Golf Club and New York Golf Club, with the former winning 9-2.
The TGL debuted with much anticipation and intrigue, considering what Woods and McIlroy were trying to accomplish with the indoor simulator golf league.
The 15-match regular season is being played in the technological wonder that is the 250,000-square-foot SoFi Center.
Now, it remains to be seen whether viewership numbers will continue to stay steady or even increase in the coming weeks.
Woods and McIlroy will play in their first team match of the TGL season on Tuesday when Jupiter Links Golf Club battles Los Angeles Golf Club.
Rickie Fowler told reporters that the new indoor league was meant to add to what the PGA Tour was trying to do with the sport.
“This is not trying to compete with what we do on the [PGA] Tour,” he said. “This is a supplement to the game, and hopefully it can open some people’s eyes to what’s possible. The biggest driver is how it does on TV and how people view it. The sky’s the limit with what you could do.
“This is just the start.’’
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