TGL Contemplating Expansion for Next Season After Successful Debut

TGL might be the answer for golf fans who think the sport needs a longer offseason.

The high-tech indoor golf league just wrapped its first season with Billy Horschel leading Atlanta Drive to the championship over New York. Now it’s gone until 2026 – a full nine months away.

Mike McCarley, who co-founded TMRW Sports with Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy, started taking notes on potential improvements before the season even began. He’s looking at everything from technology upgrades to better connecting players with their franchise cities (like having San Diego native Xander Schauffele playing for New York).

The league averaged just over 500,000 viewers on ESPN platforms. TMRW Sports pushes that number to over 850,000 using Nielsen Big Data + Panel, which includes smart TVs alongside traditional cable boxes.

What really caught McCarley’s attention was the audience demographics. TGL’s median viewer age of 52 is about 12 years younger than traditional golf broadcasts, trailing only the NBA among major sports.

There were plenty of intangibles too, like the genuine excitement Horschel and Atlanta Drive owner Arthur Blank showed after winning the championship.

“I was visiting the locker room of the teams that won and lost. Hearing them talk about what they should do differently next year was meaningful,” McCarley said.

That player buy-in happened despite some hit-and-giggle moments (Justin Thomas’ occasional wayward shots and Kevin Kisner’s memorable shanks come to mind).

“They started to figure out the ins and outs of competition, some of the strategy and rules, like the hammer,” he added.

TMRW Sports is already working with ESPN on the 2026 schedule, likely sticking to the January-March window. Expansion seems increasingly likely. One group is already planning to bid for a Dallas franchise with a total investment estimated at $77 million.

The six original teams – Atlanta, New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Boston and Jupiter – will return with minimal roster changes. But more teams could be coming.

“There’s been a ton of interest over the course of a season,” McCarley said.

He noted that at least one potential expansion group has attended every match this season. Most interested parties already own franchises across various sports from cricket to soccer.

TMRW Sports is also exploring potential sites for a West Coast arena, which could help with player travel logistics. That’s still in early planning stages and at least a year away from becoming reality.

And if the team concept is supposed to work, shouldn’t the championship Atlanta Drive squad of Horschel, Patrick Cantlay, Justin Thomas and Lucas Glover get rings?