Illustration by Cora Veltman, Photo by Thomas A. Ferrara/Newsday RM Getty Images
New York Mets owner Steve Cohen has reached an agreement to buy a fourth team in TGL, the new golf league backed by Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy.
Cohen’s first major golf investment, the franchise will have the rights to the New York market when the league begins in January. The team is still unnamed and will be managed by Cohen Private Ventures, his family office.
Four of the inaugural six teams have already sold out, with New York joining groups in Los Angeles (Alexis Ohanian/Serena Williams/Venus Williams), Boston (Fenway Sports Group) and Atlanta (Arthur Blank’s AMBSE). The league is a product of TMRW Sports, a company launched last year by Woods, McIlroy and media executive Mike McCarley.
For Cohen, the investment is an opportunity to support a tech-forward league that has the backing of some of the biggest names in golf and is positioning itself to better demonstrate ways to transform participation in golf.
“It’s a new concept that combines technology, data and a competitive team format on Monday primetime,” Andrew B. Cohen, co-founder of Cohen Private Ventures, said in an interview. “Because of the way golf is played today, with the simulators and the course, I think it’s going to bring all those elements together.”
Both sides declined to comment on financial details. Andrew B. Cohen, who is not related to Steve Cohen, said he also joined as a minority investor. Each founding club will have a 3% stake in the single-entity league, and participate in TGL-wide revenue sharing, according to a investor deck viewed earlier this year by Sports.
TMRW clearly prioritized wealthy owners with prominent sports experience for the first four teams. The money they spend will serve as start-up capital to get the league off the ground.
“We want to have people who can be good business partners in the boardroom, but compete with each other on the playing field,” McCarley said in an interview. “That’s important.”
The TGL will begin play this January, with all matches taking place in a custom venue currently under construction on the campus of Palm Beach State College in Florida. The plan is to mix the game in a 3,000-square-foot simulator with competition on a large green filled with technology, which can maneuver in different topographies and orientations. Full Swing was recently named the group’s leading technology partner.
While the golfers themselves don’t play in their home markets, McCarley said it was important for the original TGL teams to represent some of the biggest cities in the country.
“We obviously want to be in the right media markets, and in the right places where the fanbase can lean in to support their team and some of the natural rivalry that fans of other sports have, ” he said. “That points you to some of these big markets. That’s it a cause, but not the only cause. The quality of the ownership group is also very important. “
Twelve golfers have already committed to TGL, including Woods, McIlroy, Jon Rahm, Justin Thomas, Collin Morikawa, Xander Schauffele and Rickie Fowler. The golfers, who will be assigned to specific teams in the coming months, will share a player equity pool with 10% of the league.
“The fact that the top athletes in the game have come together to join and support the league is amazing,” said Andrew B. Cohen. “They are global superstars. They are some of the most recognizable athletes in the world.”
Unlike the first three team owners, Steve Cohen was not part of the original celebrity-laden investment group that backed TMRW Sports.