Tiger’s TGL debut draws 1 million viewers: What does it mean?

As it turns out, The Needle even moves for simulator golf.

Tiger Woods’ TGL debut drew a hair more than 1 million average viewers on ESPN, according to Nielsen, giving the telecast a nine percent bump over its opening week numbers and giving the new league an impressive early-season ratings story.

Woods’ Jupiter Links GC were on the losing side of a second-straight TGL blowout, losing 12-1 to an LAGC team led by Collin Morikawa, but the Tuesday night telecast drew 1,005,000 million average viewers and peaked at 1.1 million viewers shortly before the match’s conclusion between 8:30 and 8:45 p.m. ET.

The ratings data marks the second straight week of good TV news for the new simulator league, a huge piece of positive momentum the league has been counting on to fill its sails. It also proves, at least for now, a key bet of TGL founder Mike McCarley: fans will tune in to see Tiger Woods compete no matter the golf format.

The 1 million viewership number felt like a key benchmark for the new league in week 2, particularly after it hedged its bets by leaving Woods out of the league’s opening match. After drawing 919,000 average viewers in week 1, many predicted the league would crest over 1 million viewers in week 2 on the strength of the Woods name, even without the benefit of a Duke basketball lead-in and a start-time bumped up by two hours.

That hope was shared by the TGL’s schedule-makers, who figured that by putting Woods in week 2, the TGL could lap up a few key hours of promotion during ESPN’s highly watched NFL Wild Card broadcast (which aired on Monday). While 1 million average viewers leaves the TGL well short of the “smash hit” status levied by a considerable chunk of golf media after week 1, it proves the league is reaching conservative viewership goals through its first two weeks, a major early victory.

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TV ratings were always a key benchmark for the TGL, a simulator golf league billing itself as a television-first product. With ESPN’s partnership during a key chunk of the football season, the league afforded itself a promotion runway with sports fans tuning in to see bowl games and the NFL playoffs.

The million-viewer threshold is encouraging for golf — and a little more than half the average PGA Tour audience size — but more than anything, it is encouraging for the TGL. The league has now conquered a major early challenge for any new sports property: delivering consecutive weeks of viewership gains. Of course, the league would not have scheduled Woods’ debut in week 2 if it wasn’t optimistic about receiving a viewership bump from his inclusion in the event, but the outcome is still praise-worthy.

Now the challenge really begins for the TGL. Can the league continue to grow — or at least maintain — viewership with the league’s novelty worn off and the sizzle of Tiger’s debut exhausted? That is the single biggest question facing the TGL over the remaining eight weeks of the season.

While the answers to the more existential audience questions remain outside the TGL’s control, a handful of key issues need fixing in the short term. Each of the TGL’s first two matches has featured a total blowout, which doesn’t help TV interest, and players in Woods’ Week 2 match made several comments questioning the accuracy of the league’s gigantic simulator. In addition to competitive issues, the league also will need to work through a handful of editorial quirks in its telecast, including host Matt Barrie’s live interactions with players and the camera selection throughout the new arena.

Thankfully, the league has plenty of weeks to sort through those problems. The question is whether fans will be there to see them.