TGL, the new tech-infused stadium-based golf league launched by Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy’s TMRW Sports venture, has unveiled AMB Sports and Entertainment as the ownership group of an Atlanta-based team.
AMB Sports and Entertainment is controlled by Arthur Blank, the founder of home improvement giant The Home Depot who also owns the Atlanta Falcons of American football’s NFL and Atlanta United of Major League Soccer.
This is the third team ownership so far announced by TGL, which is set to commence next January having been launched by Woods and McIlroy in 2022.
The official Atlantia TGL name, brand, and staff will all be disclosed later this year.
So far, Fenway Sports Group has snapped up a Boston-based team, while Los Angeles Golf Club was announced as the first TGL side on June 8. That outfit has tennis icons Venus and Serena Williams among its co-owners.
Blank said: "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 an effort to achieve all three goals and to help TGL achieve success in any way we can."
Mike McCarley, chief executive at TGL, added: “Arthur Blank is known as one of the best consumer-focused American businessmen of the last half-century.
“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.”
The stadium-based TGL format will have a “data-rich, virtual course complete with a tech-infused, short-game complex” and a “high-energy, greenside fan experience with every shot live within a two-hour, primetime televised match.”
Teams will compete in head-to-head match play across 15 regular season matches followed by semi-finals and finals matches.
So far, players to have committed to TGL include Woods and Mcllroy, as well as names such as Jon Rahm, Justin Thomas, Matt Fitzpatrick, and Justin Rose.
Earlier this month, TGL unveiled a partnership with sports data technology firm Infinite Athlete.
The multi-year deal entails Infinite Athlete’s FusionFeed technology being used “to power revolutionary AI-enabled experiences.”
The league will use FusionFeed to create AI-driven products across different aspects of its operational and fan-facing initiatives, it has said.
