Forget that stuff about ownership of one of those elementary-school-named LIV teams — the place for billionaires and high profile-multi-millionaires is in the loving company of Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy when it comes to investing some hard-earned money.
And we’re talking real money — most likely a few hundred million dollars — and an impressive list of elite-wealthy, many from the world of sports, have jumped into the investment pool with Tiger and Rory.
Who wouldn’t?
Tiger’s Pop-Stroke concept is garnering major attention and thought here is that it could rival the numbers of Top Golf.
Enter TMRW Sports (pronounced Tomorrow Sports).
TMRW is a venture headed by Woods, McIlroy and Dick Ebersol that will focus on building hi-tech, next generation type of approaches to sports, media and entertainment.
Here are a few of the names most will recognize who have jumped on the TMRW bandwagon:
Serena Williams (tennis icon and personal friend of Tiger); Andy Murray (England’s greatest men’s tennis star), Justin Timberlake (music icon and golf enthusiast); Josh Allen (quarterback for the Buffalo Bills and HUGE golf enthusiast); Steph Curry (NBA icon and creator of Holey Moley); Trea Turner (LA Dodgers); Sidney Crosby (NHL icon and three-time Stanley Cup winner); Gareth Bale (former Real Madrid soccer star). Shohei Ohtani (Mr. Baseball for the Los Angeles Angels); Larry Fitzgerald (retired NFL star receiver and Seminole Golf Club member); Tony Romo (retired Dallas QB, serious amateur golfer and CBS football analyst). — are also in the deal.
There’s also a group of current and former Formula One drivers: Lewis Hamilton; Alex Albon (F1, Williams); Lando Norris (F1, McLaren); Carlos Sainz (F1, Scuderia Ferrari); Mark Webber (retired nine-time F1 winner).
Atlanta Falcons owner Arthur Blank is in the deal along with some Wall Street firms: Connect Ventures, 25madison, Excel Sports Management. Add to that list, John Henry, Steve Nash, and Jimmy Dunne.
Yeah, when Tiger’s in on something new, everyone wants in but not just anyone gets in. And no, Tiger has no interest in spending big money to buy one of those LIV team franchises.
Interest is huge in TMRW Sports. Add up regular folks who follow Tiger and his super-star investor lineup and together, they reach around 500 million people on social media.
The first TMRW project was announced last August by Tiger and Rory. It will be a tech-infused golf league that is set to being in January 2024 in partnership with the PGA Tour. The league will feature 15, two-hour Monday night events, plus a semifinals and finals series, that are contested between teams of PGA Tour players within a state-of-the-art, mostly virtual venue and televised in primetime.
With that list of big-time names and big-time money, add the outreach of the combined social media and this Tiger-Rory high-tech league is going to draw a LOT of interest.
It’s all about futuristic sports ventures, stuff we can only imagine right now.
Given the combination of ingredients in this — it’s going to be, most of all — a huge money machine.
And that goes to the old saying — it takes money to make money.
Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy know how to play golf.
And they know how to make money.
And yes, EVERYONE would love to have their realm of friends and contacts.
Additional investors you may or may not know:
Kelvin Beachum (NFL, Arizona Cardinals); Andre Iguodala (NBA Golden State Warriors, four-time NBA Champion); Chris Paul (NBA, Phoenix Suns); Jayson Tatum (NBA, Boston Celtics);
Diana Taurasi (WNBA, Phoenix Mercury, three time WNBA Champion); Jozy Altidore (Liga MX Mexican football league, Puebla); Servando Carrasco (MLS, retired); Alex Morgan (NWSL, San Diego Wave FC, World Cup Champion); Kanoa Igarashi (World Surf League, Olympic Silver Medalist) and Tyler “Ninja” Blevins (professional gamer and entertainment personality).
7 Comments
BobO
So where is baxter and his twelve paragraph response that if there are no LIV golfers playing no one will watch? Does the guy even have a job or just spew vitriol on social media all day?
Tom Edrington
I agree with you that Baxter’s takes are mostly waaaaaaaaaay too long, one just went in the trash.
baxter cepeda
Sorry for my thoughts I acknowledge are longer than most.
I love so many cool people are investing in this tiger and Rory venture.
I will watch this regardless of LIv golfers. But I also believe LIv golfers will eventually enter. I hope the technology is increasingly mind blowing so it is extremely successful.
I also agree with Tom Pop stroke will be as big as Top Golf.
forky76
Tiger could host a cooking show and dish up 2 minute noodles and people would watch it. He is that type or person. So in that regard this will be successful. It might also be the only way for new golf fans to see him play and the skills he has, because his playing days outdoors are basically over.
BUT, imagine how less wear and tear on his body and how much more we might get to see him play in his later years if we’d been playing 54 holes all along 🙂
Tom Edrington
Tiger believes in real golf tournaments — which are all 72 holes AND a long-standing from day one requirement for OWGR points.
forky76
Pga tour v liv aside.. one of golfs biggest issues going forward is the distance debate. The golf ball has been discussed at length, but for me club forgiveness is also a huge issue. Modern clubs are so forgiving, players can wail away at the ball with everything they’ve got and it flies 350m down the middle of the fairway. You can see its having a big impact on these guys bodies.
So how does golfs various tours handle this. Do we accept that guys will now only have 15 year careers and are done at 40? Do they cut back their schedules to 15 events a year to get longevity? Surely that is not in any tours best interests when trying to negotiate tv deals. Maybe, just maybe, 54 holes is the answer to see our best players more often. Majors can stick to 72 holes, but these often meaningless events in between could be 3 rounds.
Tom Edrington
Forky – and I think you’ll find it quite interesting that LIV does not check for non-conforming equipment. Nor does LIV drug test the players and enforcement of the Rules of Golf can be lax at times (great for Patrick Reed).