Remember when the Tiger Woods-backed TGL made headlines with over a million viewers during its January debut? Those glory days seem distant now as the innovative golf league sinks to embarrassing viewership lows. Woods, honestly, now faces a double dilemma—watching his innovative league struggle to retain viewers while his Jupiter Links faces risk of elimination along with McIlroy’s team.

According to Josh Carpenter of Sports Business Journal, Monday’s TGL broadcast plummeted to season-low numbers—just 263,000 viewers for the 5 pm match and 297,000 for the late window on ESPN2. This viewership freefall is particularly concerning, given TGL’s promising start. The league debuted with 919,000 viewers in January, then peaked with Woods’s first appearance a week later. The initial appeal was clear: a younger demographic embraced the concept, with TGL boasting a median viewer age of 51.6 years—14 years younger than traditional PGA Tour broadcasts—and securing 43% of viewers in the coveted 18-49 age bracket.

For Woods, who, along with Rory McIlroy, invested significant capital and credibility into TGL as a primetime, tech-driven alternative to traditional golf, these figures must be alarming. The league’s early success in capturing younger viewers seemed to validate their vision for golf’s future, but the rapid audience erosion raises serious questions about sustainability. Despite the concerning trends, Billy Horschel of Atlanta Drive GC attempted to put a positive spin on the situation.

“For a new startup, we’ve been very successful… averaging 600,000-800,000 viewers per match is unbelievable. We need to explore innovations like celebrity involvement to sustain interest,” he said. With the current season average now at 634,000 viewers across nine matches—still 24% higher than ESPN2’s comparable windows in 2024—TGL executives are publicly maintaining optimism while likely scrambling behind the scenes.

Meanwhile, Woods’s Jupiter Links team sits precariously in fifth place with just two points from three matches, largely due to their performance struggles. The team has won just six holes across three matches—the lowest in the league—and has particularly struggled in simulator play. Woods was absent from Tuesday’s crucial match against The Bay Golf Club, though the exact reason wasn’t officially stated. His mother, Kultida’s passing on February 4 may have been a factor, but it could also have been a strategic team decision. In his absence, Tom Kim, Max Homa, and Kevin Kisner faced the undefeated Bay GC but ultimately lost the match.

This puts Jupiter Links in a tough spot. For them to make it to the playoffs, NYGC needs to lose its next match against Boston. A loss and an overtime loss would leave the two tied — but could give New York the upper hand thanks to the holes won tiebreaker. Jupiter Links has one more match on March 4 against Atlanta, who has already clinched a spot in the playoffs.

As if mirroring Woods’s dilemma, TGL co-founder Rory McIlroy has fared no better with his team. McIlroy’s Boston Common Golf is also failing to qualify for the TGL playoffs, finishing last in the SoFi Cup standings with just 1 point from four matches. McIlroy’s team’s only chance to advance is to win their final match, only if Jupiter loses their last match. This means both of TGL’s high-profile founding player-owners could be watching the playoffs from the sidelines, adding another layer of concern for the fledgling league as it tries to maintain viewer interest without its biggest stars in championship contention.

Golf’s broader viewership battles show that TGL isn’t alone in its struggle

TGL’s viewership challenges reflect a broader pattern in professional golf, with the PGA Tour facing similar audience declines in early 2025. The American Express tournament serves as a stark example, with final-round viewership plummeting 56% to just 232,000 viewers compared to 534,000 in 2024. Even the typically reliable WM Phoenix Open, while showing improvement from 2024 with 2.9 million viewers, remained well below its 2021-2023 peak audiences of 3.6-3.7 million, suggesting a concerning downward trend for men’s golf as a whole.

Slow play has emerged as a critical factor in golf’s viewership struggles. The American Express final round took nearly six hours to complete, testing even dedicated viewers’ patience and highlighting one of the sport’s most persistent challenges. This issue is compounded by high-profile player withdrawals, with tournaments like the American Express suffering from the absences of stars including Scottie Scheffler (hand surgery) and Xander Schauffele (rib injury), depriving fans of the marquee matchups that drive tune-in.

Interestingly, while men’s golf grapples with these challenges, the LPGA Tour has bucked the trend with remarkable growth in 2025. With a record $131 million prize pool across 35 events—a 90% increase from 2021—women’s golf has successfully attracted both viewers and sponsors. The LPGA now boasts that 60% of its viewers are under 45, with 40% female viewership—the highest among major sports leagues. This contrast underscores that golf viewership can thrive with the right combination of strategic investment, player storytelling, and format innovation—lessons that TGL and the PGA Tour are now racing to implement before their audience erosion becomes irreversible.

What do you think about TGL’s future prospects after these early setbacks? Let us know in the comments section below!