TNT Sports is rebooting its live golf event series The Match with a twist: It will pit teams of A-list stars and all-star athletes against each other, in primetime, over the course of two nights, in what it is calling The Match: Superstars.
TNT Sports has lined up celebrities including Bill Murray, Mark Wahlberg and Nate Bargatze, as well as NBA legend and Inside the NBA analyst Charles Barkley, all-time NHL great and NHL on TNT analyst Wayne Gretzky, Olympics legend Michael Phelps, former MLB star Ken Griffey Jr. and former NBA star Blake Griffin, who will team up in pairs for match play.
The Match: Superstars will be held Nov. 21 and Nov. 22, and will simulcast on TNT and Max live in primetime. Ernie Johnson will host, joined by 2008 Masters Champion Trevor Immelman, two-time Masters champion Bubba Watson and Kathryn Tappen.
The teams will see Murray and Gretzky paired up to face Barkley and Griffey, while Wahlberg and Phelps face Bargatze and Griffin in the first round of play. Semifinals and finals will follow. The Breakers West Country Club in West Palm Beach, Florida will host the event.
The winner will receive a $1 million prize.
TNT Sports first launched The Match in 2018, trying to create a new live spots franchise that it can own. The initial matchup saw Tiger Woods face off against Phil Mickelson. Subsequent matchups have often seen golfers pair with athletes (Tom Brady, Peyton Manning and Aaron Rodgers have all participated), or in some cases had athlete vs. athlete matchups, like when Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce faced off against Steph Curry and Klay Thompson last year.
The last iteration of the event was held in February, with Rory McIlroy, Lexi Thompson, Max Homa, and Rose Zhang facing off.
The Match is the rare live event developed and owned by a media company, and the latest iteration underscores how TNT Sports continues to try and eventize the concept, with big stars and major athletes participating. If the latest version works out, one can imagine the company pursuing a similar strategy for future editions.
English (US) ·