Rory McIlroy is a Northern Ireland native who spends a lot of time in Florida and has become an international superstar in golf. Now, he’s hoping to be the face of the next big thing in Boston sports.
Makes sense, right?
That’s the puzzle McIlroy is trying to solve right now, alongside Tiger Woods, as one of the faces of TGL, the new tech-infused indoor golf league set to play its first match on Jan. 7 at the SoFi Center in Florida.
McIlroy isn’t just one of the league’s top ambassadors. He’s also the No. 1 player for Boston Common Golf, one of the league’s six original teams. McIlroy’s efforts to build the league — and Boston Common Golf — will be the spotlight of an upcoming docuseries titled “unCOMMON: The Making of a Boston Sports Team” set to debut Dec. 26 on NESN.
In a conference call Friday about that project, McIlroy explained why Boston is a worthwhile city for representation and how he and the rest of the “Ballfrogs” will appeal to one of the world’s top sports markets.
“So, obviously with Boston Common and everyone knowing, I guess, the intensity in which Boston fans support their teams, (we’re) trying to plug into that,” McIlroy said Friday. “Obviously, Fenway (Sports Group) owns the team, so plugging into the sort of Red Sox fans and everybody else … I think to me at least gives you a connection to something, which is great.”
It also helps to have 2025 Team USA Ryder Cup captain Keegan Bradley in the mix, too. Bradley is a New England native who is an avid sports fan and has served as a de facto ambassador to the area since the roster was announced.
“Now that we’ve got Keegan, as well, which is amazing, Keegan’s from that area, so he’s so proud to be playing for a Boston sports team,” McIlroy added. “We have that in our favor as well.”
The other obvious challenge that comes with trying to generate excitement over the newest Boston sports fan is that, well, the team doesn’t play in Boston. For now, all of the TGL matches will take place at the SoFi Center in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., roughly 1,400 miles from Fenway Park.
“We’re mostly owned by Fenway Sports Group, so it’s going to be up to us and them to insert us into that Boston sports culture as much as possible,” McIlroy said when talking about the challenges of appealing to a fanbase in an entirely different city. “Whether that’s making appearances at Red Sox games or trying to go to different Boston sports or trying to collaborate with some of the biggest and best athletes Boston has either past or present, trying to tell the people of Boston we’re proud to represent them and try to make them proud of this new team.”
One way they’ll try to do that is with the documentary series, set to debut on NESN on Dec. 26 that fans will also be able to see on GolfPass and eventually Golf Channel. Given the recent success of documentary series like Netflix’s “Full Swing” or even the European Ryder Cup team’s “Una Famiglia” made-for-YouTube doc, McIlroy hopes getting to see the entire process will get fans excited about the league and the team.
“Having the cameras follow for this docuseries on common didn’t really feel that much different but hopefully the viewers will enjoy it and enjoy a behind-the-scenes look of what’s went into the creation of this team with myself alongside Fenway Sports Group as well,” McIlroy said.
The TGL season begins Jan. 7, but McIlroy and Boston Common Golf will have to wait until Jan. 27 to open their inaugural campaign against Woods’ Jupter Links team.
