TGL improvements

The first TGL event was earlier this week. For the many, many people who may not be familiar it's a simulator golf league started by Tiger Woods & Rory McIlroy. It features teams of three pro golfers teeing it up against each other. They hit drives and approach shots into a massive simulator screen, then chip and putt around an actual green.

A couple aspects I enjoyed -

1. The course design was fun - it was built for a simulator, set up for match play, and it had some fun features like hitting over lava.
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2. It was on a Tuesday - there's not a ton of live sports to watch on a Tuesday night.
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3. The green's tech for chipping + putting - it adapted to each hole and it showed players exactly where to set their ball transitioning from simulator to green.
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4. The Hammer! - Basically the team in possession of the hammer, could throw the hammer to increase the value of a hole by 1 point, resulting in some cool dynamics.

Beyond that, it wasn't the most entertaining thing to watch, but I think it opens the door for concepts the league could implement -

1. Create the opportunity to play along - let amateur golfers head to their local simulators, play the course, and compete on an amateur leader board. Or since the teams are city-specific, it'd be interesting if you could give your team a boost that's based upon simulator play in your city vs. the other team's city.
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2. Weave in gambling in a big way - simulator golf is a perfect sport to bet on as it's at a much quicker pace than traditional golf. Viewers should be able to bet on anything and everything like fairways hit, drive distance, when a team throws a hammer, who wins a hole, etc... Odds should be shown at all times at the bottom of the screen and ESPN could boost certain bets. I don't think there's any restrictions to this, but a gambling version could be simulcast on Youtube like Pat McAfee's show. I don't bet on sports and I'm sure you can already do so with DraftKings, ESPN Bet, etc... but TGL has an opportunity to insert gambling into their DNA from the very beginnings of league formation (for better or worst). Regardless, gamblers don't have much to bet on Tuesday nights.
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3. Mix in a celebrity - It's boring to watch 3 professionals play simulator golf. Viewers love the Pebble Beach celebrity pro-am. TGL teams need to be expanded to include a celebrity that can lift the team's profile and give it some charisma. Why isn't Tony Romo on a team? He has Tuesdays off?

Overall, around ~1M viewers tuned in, it'll be interesting to see if that tapers off next week or viewership continues to grow.