PGA TOUR Release – 24 August 2018: WarnerMedia’s Turner division has secured worldwide media distribution rights to “The Match,” a historic head-to-head, 18-hole duel between Tiger Woods vs. Phil Mickelson. The highly anticipated showdown between two golfers – who have a combined 122 PGA TOUR wins and 19 majors – will be hosted by MGM Resorts International and held Thanksgiving weekend at Shadow Creek in Las Vegas. The winner of this blockbuster pairing, featuring these two legends of the game, will walk away with $9 million.
“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.”
The Woods-Mickelson live event and accompanying content – collectively offering unprecedented access leading up to and during the competition – will be distributed across wide-ranging Turner, WarnerMedia and AT&T platforms including:
- Live pay-per-view coverage of the event will be distributed through Turner’s B/R Live, the company’s new premium live sports streaming service, and AT&T’s DirecTV, as well as on-demand platforms.
- HBO Sports and its groundbreaking 18-time Sports Emmy ® Award-winning 24/7 reality franchise will capture all the excitement leading up to the match.
- Bleacher Report and its wildly-popular House of Highlights, which recently surpassed 10 million followers on Instagram, will offer comprehensive highlights and behind-the-scenes content.
- Turner’s TNT will also televise programming with select content from the event in the weeks following the live competition.
Turner International will facilitate distribution of live PPV access to the event outside the U.S.
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.
Turner Sports will produce all live event coverage while also serving as the exclusive sales and sponsorship partner. Turner Sports and its Turner Ignite Sports will work closely with marketing partners to elevate their brands within this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, tapping into award-winning live events, experiential and creative marketing solutions.
WHAT:
Two of the best golfers of their generation are facing off one-v-one in “The Match.” Tiger, with 14 majors to his name. Phil, with five. Tiger is in the midst of a thrilling comeback, highlighted by a T6 finish at The Open, and then a final-round 64 to finish in sole second place at the 2018 PGA Championship. In March, Phil claimed his first PGA Tour victory in almost five years with a WGC-Mexico win.
WHEN:
Thanksgiving weekend.
WHAT’S AT STAKE:
$9 million. Here’s what Phil had to say about that purse earlier in the year, according to Golf.com’s Alan Shipnuck: “It’s a ridiculous amount of money. No matter how much money you have, this amount will take both of us out of our comfort zone.”
HOW TO WATCH:
The event will be shown exclusively on B/R Live and DirecTV. You can watch it by following this link.
Tiger and Phil are already having fun about The Match. Tiger tweeted “It’s on” at Phil.
Phil then fired back: “I bet you think this is the easiest $9M you will ever make.”
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