Tiger, Rory Reveal TMRW Sports’ Star-Studded Investor Group
TMRW Sports, the tech and media venture backed by Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy, has announced its first series of outside investors—a star-studded group that includes some of the world’s most famous athletes, franchise owners, executives and institutional investors.
The list spans more than 65 people and firms, including athletes such as NBA stars Steph Curry and Chris Paul; F1 champion Lewis Hamilton; Stanley Cup winner Sidney Crosby; NFL quarterback Josh Allen; and tennis Grand Slam champions Serena Williams and Andy Murray. Other individuals include pop star Justin Timberlake; NFL owners Mark Wilf and Arthur Blank; media mogul Dick Ebersol; tech founder Alexis Ohanian; MLB owner John Henry; Big Ten commissioner Kevin Warren; and David Blitzer, who’s invested across all five major U.S. leagues.
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The company declined to comment on the amount raised, or the valuation. A full list of investors is provided in the chart below.
TMRW Sports, pronounced “tomorrow sports,” was founded earlier this year by Woods, McIlroy and former Golf Channel president Mike McCarley, with the aim of using new tech and new media to help reimagine sports for future audiences. Its first project, a golf league called TGL, is expected to debut in 2024. TGL will feature teams of golfers competing in a custom-built venue every Monday night, which is a significant departure from the multi-day, 18-hole tournaments that are custom for the sport.
“From the very beginning our plan has been to partner with the best-in-class in every way imaginable and Tiger, Rory and I value the support of this unrivaled team of investors, advisors, and ambassadors who believe in our vision to harness technology to create progressive approaches to sports,” McCarley, the group’s CEO, said in a statement. “Their combined broad reach and cultural relevance will expand potential opportunities and fanbases for TMRW projects.”
To that last point, TMRW Sports says the investor group touches more than 500 million people on Twitter and Instagram. That could be critical in the group’s push to spread the word about TGL, and whatever endeavors it pursues beyond golf.
TGL is the latest major disruption to professional golf. As the PGA Tour battles with Saudi-backed incumbent LIV Golf on courses and in courtrooms, PGA loyalists Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy are looking to further improve the economics for the sport’s biggest stars. It’s unclear which PGA Tour players will be participating in TGL when it makes its debut in 2024.
The institutional investment was co-led by Connect Ventures—a partnership between global talent agency CAA and private equity giant New Enterprise Associates—and 25madison Ventures. Other firms investing include Excel Sports Management, Apex Capital, esports organization Misfits Gaming Group, Ohanian’s Seven Seven Six, McIlroy’s Symphony Ventures and Woods’ TGR Ventures.
The investment announcement follows a handful of other news about TMRW Sports’ executive hiring, staff appointments and outside counsel.
A handful of investors—including Ebersol, former NHL COO John Collins, former NFL exec Eric Grubman, and Dynasty Equity cofounder Don Cornwell—were previously announced.
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