The end of TGL’s inaugural season is nigh.
The high-tech simulator golf league created by TMRW Sports, a sports entertainment venture backed by Tiger Woods and Rory Mcllroy, will conclude its first season this month. Playoffs begin on March 17 and conclude the week of March 24.
Opinions are still mixed on the long-term viability of the league itself, But the venue where matches are played has garnered near-universal approval. It’s important to remember, however, that SoFi Center would have looked and functioned very differently had fate – and Mother Nature – not intervened in November 2023.
SoFi sits on the campus of Palm Beach State College, in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. The state-of-the-art, 250,000-square-foot stadium is a 1,500-seat, steel-roofed structure built around the largest golf simulator screen in the world and a 41-yard wide, rotating putting green with built-in actuators to adjust the playing surface between holes.
SoFi Center was originally conceived as a domed stadium with an air-supported roof. Construction on that version of the facility was nearly complete when, in November 2023, an overnight power outage caused the dome to collapse.
Later that same day, severe storms whipped through Palm Beach Gardens and tore the canvas roof from the system of cables supporting it. Everything inside the stadium – including the state-of-the-art simulator and putting green – were left susceptible to the elements.
TGL was originally set to kick off its inaugural season just two months later, in January 2024. Organizers first discussed delaying the start to the fall, but due to the extensive damage and to maintain the original plan of using the NFL’s postseason to promote the fledgling league, they ultimately postponed the start a full year.
"It became obvious that the damage was going to be a lot worse than what I was originally told," TMRW Sports CEO Mike McCarley told ESPN. "By the end of that day, we knew the date that we had picked was no longer reasonable."
That extended delay allowed for an extensive redesign of the center, which would be transformed from a domed stadium into a steel-structured arena with a traditional roof.
"The first time I heard the words 'blessing in disguise' was from Tiger Woods, and [the delay] allowed us to do a lot of things that may have had to wait until Season 2," McCarley said. "From a tech standpoint, it gave our teams more time to kind of build their community and market and promote having the lab in Palm Beach. It gave the players more time to come in and test and give us feedback.
"That blessing in disguise is probably an apt description because there are a lot of things that were improved with the benefit of time."
SoFi Center is the exception to the rule; storm damage is rarely viewed as a blessing in disguise when it comes to sporting venues and other large facilities.
But designing these structures to withstand natural disasters is difficult, given the increasing frequency and severity of these events.
Less than four hours to the west of Palm Beach Gardens, in St. Petersburg, Florida, local government officials, Major League Baseball, and the Tampa Bay Rays are still coming to grips with the damage that Hurricane Milton caused last year to the 34-year-old Tropicana Field.
The Rays’ home since their inaugural season saw its canvas roof torn to shreds by Milton’s 120 mph winds. That roof was built to withstand winds of up to 115 miles per hour.
Subsequent heavy rains caused extensive damage inside the ballpark. St. Petersburg’s City Council just recently approved over $950,000 for the next phase of repairs to the stadium, which they’re hoping to have ready by opening day of the 2026 MLB season. This season, the Rays will play home games at Steinbrenner Field in Tampa – the spring training home of their AL East division rivals, the New York Yankees.
"We deeply appreciate that the Yankees have graciously allowed us to play at Steinbrenner Field for the 2025 season,’’ Rays Principal Owner Stuart Sternberg said in a prepared statement. "The hurricane damage to Tropicana Field has forced us to take some extraordinary steps, just as Hurricanes Helene and Milton have forced thousands of families and businesses in our community to adapt to new circumstances as we all recover and rebuild.’’
The Challenge of Fighting Mother Nature
The United States is grappling with escalating challenges in safeguarding its buildings and infrastructure against the rising threat of natural disasters. As climate change amplifies the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events—such as hurricanes, wildfires, floods, and earthquakes—the need for resilient buildings and infrastructure has never been more pressing.
But efforts to strengthen the nation’s physical framework are hindered by financial, regulatory, social, and technical barriers. Outdated infrastructure, funding limitations, and resistance to change create a complex path toward a safer, disaster-resistant future.
A key challenge lies in the age of the nation’s infrastructure. As was the case with Tropicana Field, much of it was constructed decades ago, before modern building codes accounted for climate-related risks. The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) reports that many bridges, roads, and public buildings are in "poor" or "mediocre" condition, making them highly susceptible to damage or collapse during disasters.
The retrofitting process for aging infrastructure is particularly challenging, as it often requires extensive structural modifications. Many older bridges, for instance, were not built to withstand the level of flooding or high winds experienced in recent years. Additionally, projects such as reinforcing levees or upgrading flood barriers involve intricate engineering work and lengthy construction timelines, causing disruptions to daily life. As these structures continue to deteriorate, the risk of catastrophic failures grows.
GPRS can be the first step in helping you rebuild after a natural disaster – but we can also help you proactively assess your facility or campus to plan responsible investments in resiliency projects.
Our utility locating, concrete imaging, 3D laser scanning, video pipe inspection, and mapping & modeling services give you an accurate and complete picture of the Built World above ground and beneath your feet. And all this data is at your fingertips 24/7 thanks to SiteMap® (patent pending), our facility and project management platform that provides accurate existing conditions documentation to protect your assets and people.
From stadiums to skyscrapers, GPRS Intelligently Visualizes The Built World® to keep your projects on time, on budget, and safe.
What can we help you visualize?
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the Benefits of Underground Utility Mapping?
Having an updated and accurate map of your subsurface infrastructure reduces accidents, budget overruns, change orders, and project downtime caused by dangerous and costly subsurface damage.
How does SiteMap® assist with Utility Mapping?
SiteMap® (patent pending), powered by GPRS, is the industry-leading infrastructure management program. It is a single source of truth, housing the 99.8%+ accurate utility locating, concrete scanning, video pipe inspection, leak detection, and 3D laser scanning data our Project Managers collect on your job site. And the best part is you get a complimentary SiteMap® Personal Subscription when GPRS performs a utility locate for you.
Does SiteMap® Work with my Existing GIS Platform?
SiteMap® allows for exporting of data to SHP, GeoJSON, GeoPackage, and DXF directly from any user’s account that either owns or has a job shared to their account. All these file formats can be imported and utilized by other GIS packages if manually imported by the user. More information can be found at SiteMap.com.
