Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy’s TMRW Golf League (TGL) has announced the third of its six team ownership groups. Arthur Blank, the owner of the Atlanta Falcons (NFL) and Atlanta United (MLS), has dipped his toes into the golf space by announcing a TGL team that will represent A-Town.
Blank and his Atlanta franchise joins the Los Angles Golf Club (LAGC) — helmed by Seven Seven Six’s (776) founder Alexis Ohanian and tennis superstars Serena Williams and Venus Williams — and a Boston franchise owned by Fenway Sports Group. A name for the Atlanta team will be unveiled later this year.
League play begins in January 2024.
“One of the missions of our golf business is to help grow the game and all of AMBSE [AMB Sports and Entertainment] is oriented toward representing Atlanta as best we can on and off the fields we compete on,” said Blank. “We are thrilled to partner with TMRW Sports and be a founding owner in TGL. I see this as an investment to grow the game, deliver an innovative product to avid fans while exposing golf to new, younger audiences, and another way for us to compete for championships for Atlanta. We will put our best foot forward in effort to achieve all three goals and to help TGL achieve success in any way we can.”
With the addition of Blank, the portfolios of TGL team owners include professional squads across the NFL, MLB, NHL, Premier League, NASCAR, MLS and NWSL.
TGL currently has 12 of 18 players on board as it aims to fill out six teams of three PGA Tour players each. The Monday night league includes Matt Fitzpatrick, Rickie Fowler, Max Homa, Billy Horschel, Collin Morikawa, Jon Rahm, Justin Rose, Xander Schauffele, Adam Scott and Justin Thomas in addition to McIlroy and Woods.
“Arthur Blank is known as one of the best consumer-focused American businessmen of the last half-century. His history of building valuable enterprises, beginning with The Home Depot, and extending to the Atlanta Falcons, Atlanta United, PGA Tour Superstore and Mercedes-Benz Stadium, is well-documented, said TMRW Sports CEO Mike McCarley. “His philanthropic endeavors, especially in the Atlanta community, speak volumes about him as a person. He is highly regarded among sports owners as a tremendous business partner and we are honored to have him join TGL as one of our original six team owners. He has been a stalwart supporter of golf at every level and has been engaged throughout much of TMRW Sports’ journey to develop TGL. His expertise in building not only great sports teams, but also strong organizations with his successful business enterprises, is the type of leadership we appreciate and welcome to TGL.”
In partnership with the PGA Tour, the TGL will consist of a 15-match regular-season schedule with playoffs to follow. The six teams will face each other in two-hour head-to-head matches that is digestible for both the viewer at home and those up close and personal in the stands. Players will strike full shots — both off the tee and approaches into the green — into a simulator while short-game shots will take place in front of fans in a new arena built on the Palm Beach State campus in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida.