Tiger Woods' TGL Debut Proves More Popular Than Rival NBA Clashes As League Bosses Celebrate Ratings Increase

Tiger Woods' TGL debut helped the technology-inspired competition increase its weekly viewership figures by almost 10%, with ESPN reporting a peak audience of over 1.1 million during Jupiter Links GC v Los Angeles GC on Tuesday.

The average audience figure settled at around one million for much of the prime-time golf league's second edition, up 9% from week one, and rose as high as 1.13 million. In the competition's inaugural fixture between The Bay and New York - won comfortably by the former - the average audience was marked at 919,000.

And the uptick in number of eyeballs focused on TGL was all the more impressive given the contest was particularly one-sided from the start once more.

Woods held the honor of hitting the opening tee shot at SoFi Center and instantly threw down The Hammer before the first hole was tied anyway. But after that, LAGC - made up of Justin Rose, Sahith Theegala, and Collin Morikawa this time - quickly raced into the lead before ultimately running out 12-1 winners.

The most-viewed time period in the broadcast arrived between 8:30pm and 8:45pm ET, with the result confirmed at 8:50pm when LA took a 9-1 lead at the 11th hole. The telecast went on until almost 9:20pm, having started at 7pm.

Such significant viewing figures would have been celebrated by league bosses anyway, but possibly even more so when it was revealed that TGL attracted more fans than a relatively close, high-scoring NBA clash being shown live on TNT Sports at the same time.

The Cleveland Cavaliers - who top the Eastern Conference - took on the playoff-chasing Indiana Pacers in a fascinating match up and won 127-117 thanks to 35 points from Donovan Mitchell. Despite the entertainment on offer, it was viewed by 956,000 - slightly down on the live three-on-three golf.

Further highlighting TGL's TV success, both Jupiter Links vs LAGC and Cavs vs Pacers out-rated a heavyweight clash between the Denver Nuggets and Dallas Mavericks later on that evening (9:35pm ET start).

Although the Mavs were missing talisman Luka Doncic through injury, the contest still featured the Nuggets' own hero, Nikola Jokic plus a host of other notable stars such as Jamal Murray, Russell Westbrook, Klay Thompson and Kyrie Irving. Regardless, the 118-99 victory for the Nuggets brought in a relatively modest average crowd of 853,000 - roughly 15% down on TGL week two.

The indoor golf league may well record even higher viewing figures in the coming weeks as Rory McIlroy's Boston Common make its TGL debut against Woods' Jupiter Links on January 28. That fixture is likely to be a contender for the most-viewed TGL match of the season, with two giant names in the world of pro golf going head to head.

Before that, Atlanta Drive GC will enter the TGL arena for the first time, taking on a New York Golf Club which was beaten last time out and appears unlikely to feature World No.2 Xander Schauffele, following the news that he had pulled out of the American Express this week. That match kicks off on ESPN and ESPN+ at 7pm ET on Tuesday.