After Adding Motor City Golf Club, What’s Next For TGL?

With the successful first season of TGL now in the rearview mirror, where does the simulator league go from here?

Last month, ESPN reported a desire for the TGL to expand and explore including LPGA players, building on the momentum of 2025.

Now TGL has made headlines by officially announcing that Motor City Golf Club will be the next team added to the roster. The Detroit-owned team will join the league in 2027.

Now we are all asking: What TGL will do next?

For all that its good Season One delivered, there were some pitfalls. Whether it was the technology (sorry, Tommy Fleetwood), the blowouts, match times or just the issues with interviews, it’s clear TGL needs to evolve.

Another question remains: How? 

I was not the most consistent viewer of TGL. With two children under the age of two, general fatigue always seemed to coincide with start times. However, when I did tune in, matches were entertaining and provided a fun alternative to the regular weekend golf broadcast.

Following their formula, here are five ways TGL can adapt to build on the best parts of the product while strengthening some weaknesses.

1. Expanding with new franchises

This one is the most obvious because it’s already started with Motor City on the way.

TGL currently has six different teams (soon to be seven) with a roster of 24 golfers. The easiest way to grow their brand? Introduce more teams in varying geographical locations.

South Florida, Atlanta, New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Boston were a strong start for founding cities. Detroit adds a Midwest presence.

Each of these areas have storied sports histories and expansion builds on that foundation. Incorporating locales like the Texas (Dallas) or other areas in the Midwest (Kansas City) seems like the next logical step in an expansion. Areas like D.C. and Denver pose intriguing potential as well.

Building on these regions allows other PGA stars to headline a new team. Names like Jordan Spieth, Scottie Scheffler, Akshay Bhatia and Tony Finau could captain their own teams. The league already showcases seven of the best 10 players is the world. Inking more names, especially those at the top of the world rankings, continues building on their brand.

And could there be arenas built in these cities to create a traveling league with home and road teams?

It’s an intriguing possibility.

2. Adding a waiver wire

TGL is, at its core, a “fantasy” sport. Ridiculous hole creations, a 64-foot screen and a rotating landscape are anything but grounded in reality.

TGL needs to lean into this chaos and introduce the waiver wire.

Allowing teams to add/drop golfers would increase the “fantasy” aspect we’ve already seen with the various hole designs and gameplay. Teams understand they are there to entertain and have fun. I don’t think any of them went into each match treating it like the back nine on Sunday at Augusta.

Which is the point.

So let the captains have more freedom to manage their roster.

We’ve already seen Finau sign a one-match contract. How about building on this so others can do the same?

Introducing a pool of players to tag in and out allows more freedom and creativity from captains. If someone is on a heater on the PGA Tour, captains may want to pick them up. Obvious limits would need to be put into place. A tumultuous roster doesn’t make for good TV.

3. Including more legends

Comparisons are bound to happen. Scheffler is on an absolute tear right now and the comparisons to Tiger are inevitable. With all the data and analytics that are collected on a daily basis during a golf tournament, this could go one of two ways.

First, the TGL could create a “Legends” team to challenge teams for special matches. Having some of the greats like Fred Couples, Rocco Mediate, John Daly and Miguel Angel Jimenez square off against the young guys could make for some fun/entertaining television. Seeing how the greats hold up against the younger generation could help satisfy the itch of seeing these names go toe to toe.

Would it be perfect? No. Entertaining? Yes.

The second is a little bit of a stretch but entertaining nonetheless. With all the statistics and analytics collected from a round of golf, it is possible to create a “ghost” team of the greats?

Imagine Seve, Palmer, Snead, Nicklaus and everyone in between. Teams would play the CPU of sorts with each great’s statistical averages serving as their skill. I know this is completely far-fetched and ludicrous … but if we can get a Tupac hologram at Coachella, who knows?

4. Adding LPGA players

This one builds off the ESPN article referenced earlier—and it’s well overdue. As a #girldad, I want to sit with my daughter and watch TGL with her and show her that the ladies are just as good (if not better in certain aspects of the game) than some of the men. 

Nelly Korda, Rose Zhang, Lydia Ko and Charley Hull are just a few names that come to mind as a starting point. Even the likes of Justin Thomas have taken notice of the insane commitment these ladies have to their craft.

Not only do I believe that a team of women could win a TGL match, they could win the season-long event. 

5. Creating team uniforms

This one might be the trickiest considering contracts and sponsorships vary from individual to individual. But, in my opinion, there needs to be standardized team uniforms.

I think any viewer will agree that seeing Tiger, Kevin Kisner and Tom Kim all roll up to a match in three different shades of red was an eyesore. The Ryder Cup has figured out this fashion faux pas with their uniforms. Why can’t TGL?

It gives a “buddies golf trip” vibes instead of “championship match” vibes. While the rest of the ensemble was salvageable (belt, pants, shoes, hat), the lack of a uniform was a big whiff.

If TGL can somehow figure this out, I’m sure it’s bound to be a merchandise gold mine. All the other team branded apparel was quite popular. TGL should capitalize on this opportunity and add team uniforms to the mix.

What’s next?

Despite the flaws, TGL was a massive success in my opinion. It gave golf a much-needed boost and offered casual fans an opportunity to tune into a fast-paced, fun weeknight event.

I can’t wait for next year. 

Drop a comment below and tell us what you think TGL can do to build upon their success in their inaugural season.

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