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TNT Sports wants to increase its footprint in golf, and, with PGA Tour media rights tied up through 2030, the rights holder is getting creative.
Bleacher Report announced Wednesday it will carry the first event of the Grass League, a new par-3 golf association beginning with an opening event in Tempe, Ariz., on April 17–20. The tournament, held at Grass Clippings Rolling Hills, will feature professional teams from the Grass League’s regional markets, plus amateur qualifiers that get into the tournament, competing for a six-figure prize. Bleacher Report will produce the event for its website, app, social media, Golf Digest, and TruTV.
TNT Sports is not bashful about its love of golf: It already owns “The Match,” some international PGA Tour rights, and Golf Digest. Bleacher Report tells Front Office Sports it is the exclusive season-long media partner for the Grass League, which has one more tournament the outlet is set to deliver. Bleacher Report also says it will get first dibs on any new tournaments.
Last year TNT Sports (formerly Warner Bros. Discovery Sports, which owns Bleacher Report) jumped off the regional sports network sinking ship, and last week the man in charge of those, Patrick Crumb, moved into a new position as the company’s president of sports ventures. Crumb’s job is to find leagues and events the company can own, and golf is a top priority, according to a recent Puck newsletter from John Ourand.
Though Crumb probably can’t be credited entirely for the Grass Clippings tournament, the timing is notable and shows that TNT Sports is hungry to produce more golf.
