NEW YORK: The PGA Tour has given an official go-ahead to “The Match”, a historic head-to-head, 18-hole duel between arguably two of the greatest golfers of the current era – Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson.
Recently, it was the latter that had put forth the suggestion for a ‘winner-takes-all’ match with Woods, which will be the first-of-its-kind in golf history. Prize money of $9 million has been confirmed for the same.
The match will take place at the famous MGM Resorts International in Las Vegas on November 24 and 25, which happens to be the weekend following Thanksgiving in the USA. The worldwide media distribution as well as sales and sponsorship rights for the event have been won by the Turner Sports division of WarnerMedia (formerly TimeWarner before AT & T’s acquisition).
Turner will work with its marketing partners to elevate their brands within this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, tapping into award-winning live events, experiential and creative marketing solutions.
While the company’s new premium live sports streaming service, B/R Live and AT&T’s DirecTV will be providing live pay-per-view coverage of the event through their on-demand platforms and global partners.
The media rights agreement with Turner was completed in partnership between CAA Sports, Excel Sports and Lagardere Sports.
Other top media players in the country such as HBO and Bleacher Report will be co-presenting the tournament as well. The award-winning HBO’s content will be responsible for building the excitement in the lead-up to the match. Whereas Bleacher Report is expected to use its famous ‘House of Highlights’ for not just match highlights but behind-the-scenes content for its 10 million followers on Instagram for instance.
As part of the live event, both Woods and Mickelson will selectively make side-challenges against one another during the match. For instance, Woods or Mickelson could raise the stakes by challenging the other to a long-drive, closest-to-the-pin or similar competition during a hole as they play their match, with money being donated to the winning golfer’s charity of choice.
“The iconic Tiger Woods and five-time Major Champion Phil Mickelson are generational talents who have transcended the game of golf and their rivalry continues to be one of the most compelling in the history of sports,” said David Levy, president of Turner.
“This one-of-a-kind, winner-take-all matchup provides a great opportunity to harness the assets within the AT&T and WarnerMedia portfolio. For the first time since AT&T’s acquisition of Time Warner (now WarnerMedia), Turner, DirecTV and HBO will come together to present a multi-faceted presentation of the live event and accompanying content across a vast array of platforms.”
