The sports betting for the TGL on Thursday to further review the legal requirements of separating the fledgling golf league’s rules of play for sports wagering versus eSports wagering.
BetMGM submitted the request for wagering on the TGL — which begins play next January — to the state agency on March 22, and Massachusetts is one of 11 states where it has done so. The proposal was received favorably by the state agency, but issues arose because competition in a TGL event is a combination of golf simulation — golfers are hitting shots into a screen — and actual golf play once the ball is 50 yards or closer to the hole.
The specific concern for the MGC was approving the TGL as something to be added to its sports wagering catalog, which is what BetMGM has proposed in its request to other states, or as a possible event for eSports wagering.
The Massachusetts Gaming Agency has yet to craft rules and regulation for eSports, which falls under its oversight, and that prompted discussion among the commissioners as they reached a consensus on undertaking a legal review before taking a vote on the matter.
An explainer on TGL play and who’s involved 5x5x6w
The TGL, which has the backing of the PGA Tour, is a six-team league that features matches contested in match-play format comprised of both alternate-shot formats and singles play over 15 simulated holes played at the SoFi Center located on the campus of Palm Beach State College. Each team has four players, three of whom will compete in each contest.
After their tee shots, golfers will hit off natural surfaces — fairway, rough, and sand — into the screen. Once the ball is inside 50 yards, golfers will then play onto the “Green Zone,” a 3,800-square foot area that sits on a 41-yard turntable.
The “Green Zone” will rotate, while the green itself has close to 600 actuators under the surface designed to change the slope of the green on every hole.
Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy headline the TGL roster, which was broken up into six teams Tuesday that currently have either three or four players. Woods, who is part-owner of the Jupiter Links Golf Club squad, also has Max Homa, Tom Kim, and Kevin Kisner on his squad. McIlroy is on the Boston Common Golf team — owned by the Fenway Sports Group — along with fellow major winners Keegan Bradley and Adam Scott.
Collin Morikawa and Justin Rose headline the Los Angeles Golf Club, which counts tennis superstars Serena and Venus Williams among its owners. Shane Lowry is part of the Bay Golf Club, which has Golden State Warriors guards Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson among its owners.
New York Mets owner Steve Cohen is also part-owner of New York Golf Club, which has Rickie Fowler and Xander Schauffele on its roster. The Atlanta Drive, owned by Falcons owner Arthur Blank, features Justin Thomas and Patrick Cantlay among its four-man roster.
ESPN, which has its own sports betting app ESPN BET, and ESPN+ will air the first three weeks of matches in primetime starting Jan. 7.
