WTGL to Lean Into Female Broadcast Talent on ESPN and Ion
Female broadcasters will make up the majority of on-air talent for WTGL, the indoor team women’s golf league that launches on Nov. 8.
Modeled after the men’s TGL—which was co-founded by Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy—and owned by the same parent company, TMRW Sports, WTGL matches will be broadcast on ESPN platforms and Ion, the Scripps-owned over-the-air network. Matches will be played at the same 1,500-seat SoFi Center in South Florida that also hosts TGL.
Justin Kutcher, a veteran multi-sport play-by-play announcer, including men’s and women’s golf, will call WTGL matches. Kutcher will be the lone broadcaster in the booth, in the same manner as Matt Barrie during TGL broadcasts on ESPN. In recent years, Kutcher’s golf work has primarily been calling PGA Tour events, but he has prior experience with LPGA and women’s amateur golf tournaments.
Emilia Doran, a former college golfer turned broadcaster, will serve as WTGL’s on-field analyst, reprising the role former PGA Tour player Roberto Castro launched for TGL broadcasts earlier this year. Doran played golf at Wake Forest, and has done on-course reporting for NBC Sports, Golf Channel, PGA Tour Live on ESPN+, and SiriusXM radio since graduating in 2023.
ESPN and Ion will have different “sideline reporters” for their respective WTGL broadcasts, playing off Marty Smith’s duties during TGL matches, which include interviewing players in between holes and coming in and out of commercial breaks, among other segments.
Taylor Tannebaum, primarily a host for ACC Network, will work the seven broadcasts on ABC, ESPN, and ESPN2. This will mark the first on-air professional golf work for Tannebaum, who received ample praise last month for her navigation of the power outage that delayed the SMU–Florida State season-opening college football game on Labor Day.
Addie Parker, most recently a travel and lifestyle editor at golf publication Skratch, will work Ion’s seven match broadcasts. While content creation has been a major part of Parker’s previous work across the LPGA Tour and other major golf events, WTGL will mark her TV debut in a full-time role.
Finding the “right voices” for WTGL—and not necessarily those that are already the most well-known golf broadcasters—was important when building the on-air talent team, TMRW Sports VP of content Jeff Neubarth tells Front Office Sports.
“Just like we did with TGL, we wanted to use voices that are not the main voices that you already know and love on LPGA coverage,” Neubarth says. “We wanted to use some different voices.”
Like TGL matches, WTGL matches will be produced in-house by the TMRW Sports production team led by Neubarth. Broadcasts will be mostly identical across ESPN and Ion, with network graphics and programming promotions mostly the only noticeable differences for viewers. Also like its men’s counterpart, WTGL matches will have a fast pace, Neubarth says, with most broadcasts showing a golf shot within 90 seconds of coming on air.
TGL averaged 488,000 viewers per broadcast across ESPN platforms last season, down 2% from the Season 1 average viewership figure of 498,000. Barrie, Castro, and Smith will all return to ESPN’s TGL broadcast team when the league’s third season begins Dec. 27.
Dress to Impress
While WTGL and TGL players don’t wear team uniforms during matches due to varying apparel sponsorships—only matching color schemes—match day fashion has created some viral moments, like Woods sporting a $350 Sun Day Red retro-style jacket or players wearing jerseys from their favorite sports teams.
Off-course fashion will be an even bigger focus for WTGL content, according to Neubarth.
“The most popular social posts prior to a match for us are player rivals,” Neubarth says. “So, we’re doubling down on that with WTGL.”
Claire Rogers, a culture and lifestyle creator for Skratch who worked on TGL’s digital team its first two seasons, will also work WTGL matches, and one of her new duties will be interviewing players about their arrival outfits. “We are going to ask players what they’re wearing and why,” Neubarth says. “The WTGL players are so hyped about fashion.” That content will live primarily on WTGL social accounts but will be incorporated in the TV broadcasts at times.
WTGL’s five teams have five LPGA players each, but only three per team will compete each match.
“I think the chance to showcase our athletes in primetime on network [TV] is exactly what we need,” LPGA commissioner Craig Kessler said last week during an interview at the FOS Tuned In summit in New York.
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