TGL sets 27 December start and extends ESPN deal for season three

TGL will have seven teams in its third season, one more than last year, with Brooks Koepka the first signing for Motor City Golf Club, the league’s first expansion franchise.

Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy’s simulator-based league announced on Thursday that the season opens on Sunday 27 December 2026 at the purpose-built SoFi Center in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, and that ESPN and ABC remain its US broadcasters under a new multi-year agreement. Neither side has published the length or value of the deal. As in season two, the opener will go head to head with NFL coverage, a slot TGL has decided to embrace rather than avoid.

Koepka, a five-time major champion, grew up in Palm Beach County and returned to the PGA TOUR from LIV Golf earlier this year. The full match schedule and the rest of the Motor City roster have not yet been announced.

TGL’s second season drew 21.78 million total viewers, up 8% on the first, according to figures reported by Golf Digest. The season opener averaged 646,000 viewers on ABC, and play-off audiences rose 42% year on year, to an average of 618,000, with TGL shown in prime time against football in the off-season. ESPN executive Rosalyn Durant called the format something “genuinely new” for golf.

ESPN will also show the first season of WTGL, the women’s version of the league, from 8 November to 22 December across ESPN, ABC and ION.

Sources

• Golf Digest via Yahoo Sports: TGL renews media-rights partnership with ESPN
• Yahoo Sports: Tiger Woods’ TGL to open Season 3 vs. NFL again as Brooks Koepka joins
• Golfmagic: Rory McIlroy and Tiger Woods’ TGL confirm season three start date
• Yahoo Sports: Brooks Koepka is taking his talents to Motor City