Sports and Entertainment entrepreneur Arthur Blank has steered Atlanta’s professional football and soccer teams to great success in recent years.
Now he’s trying his hand at professional golf.
Through his company, AMB Sports and Entertainment, Blank has secured the rights to a professional golf team in Atlanta to be a part of the new TGL professional golf league. The league is owned by TMRW Sports, founded by sports executive Mike McCarley, pro golfers Tiger Woods and Rory McElroy, and the PGA Tour. It will launch in January 2023, with Monday night events built around the PGA’s schedule.
Blank’s team will be one of three initial clubs, along with Boston and Los Angeles, that will compete in the first TGL season in January. TGL will have six total teams competing against each other in an 18-hole match play on a virtual course in a shortened play area. The games will have a two-hour duration on primetime on Monday nights. There will be semi-finals and a championship match at the end of the season. No media partnerships have been announced yet.
“We are thrilled to partner with TMRW Sports and be a founding owner in TGL,” said Blank in a statement. “I see this as an investment to grow the game, deliver an innovative product to avid fans while exposing golf to new and 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.”
The golf franchise will be the third pro team within the AMBSE Atlanta-based pro sports group, alongside the Falcons and Atlanta United.
The new team will be in one of the hottest places in the country for golf, with the popular annual Masters playing in the Augusta National Golf Club each year. The Bobby Jones Golf Club and East Lake Golf Club are two of the most respected golf clubs in the country.
“Atlanta and the surrounding areas are home to some of the biggest golf tournaments in the world and tens of thousands of golfers, so we are proud to have this golf-rich part of the country represented in the original TGL ownership group,” said PGA TOUR Superstore CEO Dick Sullivan. He will oversee AMBSE’s entry into the leauge.
The new leauge is attracting high level player and investor attention. Besides founding owners Woods and McIIroy, other key players include Billy Horschel, Justin Thomas and Rickie Fowler. Investors in TGL include NBA stars Stephen Curry, Shaquille O’Neal, Soccer star Alex Morgan, MLB’s Mike Trout, NFL’s Josh Allen, Tennis legend Serena Williams, entertainer Justin Timberlake and Fanatics CEO Michael Rubin.
For Blank, securing a new professional sporting enterprise in Atlanta is yet another hole-in-one for his growing sports organization, and Atlanta.
“One of the missions of our golf business is to help grow the game and all of AMBSE is oriented toward representing Atlanta as best we can on and off the fields we compete on,” Blank said.
Image credit: TGL Atlanta