TGL Ratings Are Down So Far in Season 2, but Context Is Needed

Thers’s now a sample size for TGL’s 2026 television ratings.

Three matches into the tech golf league’s second season, viewership is steady, despite skepticism that the novelty might not carry over after its inaugural season.

Yes, the ratings overall have declined this year from last. But when putting them into context, TGL has held its own.

According to the Sports Business Journal, its season opener on Sunday, Dec. 28, on ABC pulled in 646,000 viewers. That’s down from the 2025 opener, which drew 919,000 on ESPN on a weeknight; however, the Dec. 28 match, a rematch of last season’s championship, went head-to-head with the NFL from 3–5 p.m. ET.

The second match of this season, which featured the first victory of Rory McIlroy’s Boston Common Golf, had 354,000 viewers on Friday, Jan. 2, on ESPN2 from 7–9 p.m. ET. The second match of the first season had over 1 million, but it was Tiger Woods’s TGL debut on ESPN.

Billy always delivers. pic.twitter.com/3YzgOxZmTB
— TGL (@TGL) December 28, 2025

Last Tuesday was TGL’s third match of Season 2, oddly starting at 5 p.m. on ESPN. Yet, 518,000 tuned in. The third match of 2025 was also on a Tuesday night, beginning at 7 p.m., and attracted 682,000 viewers.

For comparison, the league had only two starting times before 5 p.m. on ESPN last season, both on Presidents Day at 1 and 4 p.m., yielding ratings of 347,000 and 377,000.

It’s worth noting that this year’s ratings include both Nielsen’s Panel and Big Data, as last season’s were Panel only.

This is a time of year when golf isn’t top of mind. December was the sport’s “silly season” featuring a series of unofficial tournaments. SBJ reported that the final rounds of the PNC Championship had 560,000 viewers on NBC, the mixed-gender Grant Thornton Invitational drew 450,000 on NBC and the World Champions Cup on ABC had 305,000. All were played on a Sunday afternoon.

So far, TGL’s second season numbers compare and in some cases exceed those.

Season 1’s TGL viewership average was 513,000, outpacing the same broadcast windows ESPN had in 2024. And so far, the 2026 ratings suggest the season-long average will be in the same ballpark, proving the business model is relatively successful.

There are 12 remaining matches in 2026, with eight on ESPN, including tonight’s between Jupiter Links and New York Golf Club, and four on ESPN2.

Those ratings will help reveal the trajectory of the league.

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