The viewing numbers are in from Tuesday's TGL debut, and they appear to be a relative success.
According to Nielsen, the ESPN broadcast airing from 9–11 p.m. ET drew an average of 919,000 viewers.
Considering that TGL saved the debut of its two biggest stars and co-founders, Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy, drawing almost a million viewers is an encouraging sign.
According to Sports Media Watch, the Duke vs. Pittsburgh college basketball game that preceded TGL drew 751,000 viewers.
To put the TGL viewing numbers in golf context, the debut outdrew last week’s weekend broadcasts of the PGA Tour season opener in Maui, Hawaii. It also earned more viewers than any LIV Golf broadcast on the CW as well as last month's crypto.com Showdown.
In the first TGL match, The Bay Golf Club cruised past New York Golf Club 9-2, with Ludvig Åberg starring for The Bay.
Next week, Tiger Woods’s Jupiter Golf Club will take on Collin Morikawa's Los Angeles Golf Club at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN.
This article was originally published on www.si.com as TGL Draws Surprising Ratings for Debut Match on ESPN.
