A new sports tech business owned in part by Tiger Woods may soon rise at the Palm Beach Gardens campus of Palm Beach State College.
The company, TMRW Sports, will build an enclosed arena where pro golfers, celebrities and top players from other sports will play a fast-moving golf game consisting of both virtual and in-person golf. TMRW Sports is creating TGL, a new high-tech golf league in partnership with the PGA Tour.
A lease agreement signed in November also will give Woods and his partners, pro golfer Rory McIlroy and former NBC sports executive Mike McCarley, use of nearly 11 acres of PBSC-owned land for up to 15 years, as well as campus parking lots during events.
But TMRW Sports will pay no rent for the land, and have free use of the parking lots.
Instead, Woods’ company will provide a range of contributions to the state college during the lease term. The lease describes these contributions, ranging from marketing PBSC to providing guest speakers, as “in-kind rent.”
PBSC President Ava Parker said the college estimates this in-kind rent to be worth more than $9 million over five years.
Among the benefits: TMRW Sports will give students exposure to careers in the sports, technology and media industries, Parker said.
“I like the fact that we’re going to bring opportunities to students who may never have thought about a career in sports, technology, media and entertainment,” Parker said. “We’re going to show them real-world experiences … that could lead to a career path.”
By 2024, a 10.67-acre PBSC field on RCA Boulevard, on the south side of the college’s Palm Beach Gardens campus, will be transformed into a multi-use facility spanning 3 acres. The 1,500-seat arena will hold up to 2,000 people total and serve as an anchor for this new type of golf competition, which could host up to 25 golf events per year, said McCarley, TMRW Sports’ chief executive.
McCarley said TMRW Sports has assembled a team of investors and advisors, including business leaders in technology, sports, media and finance, “who believe in our vision to harness technology to create progressive approaches to sports.”
These investors include pop singer Justin Timberlake, NBA superstar Stephen Curry and retired NFL quarterback Tony Romo. Professional tennis champs Serena Williams and Andy Murray also are investors.
Parker: PBSC will gain worldwide attention in deal
On Nov. 1, PBSC’s board of trustees voted to approve a five-year lease and two five-year lease extensions.
The agreement calls for TMRW Sports to provide guest speakers, student internships and full- and part-time jobs in technology and hospitality for students. TMRW Sports also will help create sports and technology curriculums.
In addition to student education, another big gain for PBSC is the promotion of the state college, Parker said.
As part of the deal, TMRW Sports is required to include Palm Beach State College’s name at least twice during the events broadcast from the facility, make references to PBSC in social media posts and produce news releases and videos that highlight the golf venue’s location at PBSC.
Parker said this type of global exposure “is a big deal” because “the marketing and branding increases our national recognition.”
Palm Beach County is an increasingly competitive academic environment, with branch campuses of universities based outside the county either planned or already built inside the county limits. The University of Florida, for example, has announced plans for a West Palm Beach graduate campus, while Nova Southeastern University already has a campus in Palm Beach Gardens.
PBSC spokeswoman Angela Harrington said the affiliation with Woods’ tech sports business is in keeping with the college’s vision statement. That statement includes the goal of advancing PBSC as an innovative academic leader through “dynamic partnerships.”
Ken Johnson, an economist with Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton, said colleges and universities increasingly are striking partnerships with their local communities. He predicted there will be other affiliations.
“You’re going to see more of this,” Johnson said.
Harrington said the value of the affiliation with Woods’ business goes beyond the norms of a standard lease because the agreement includes other provisions.
For instance, Harrington noted that PBSC is not incurring any costs associated with the project, but the college will realize more than $1.5 million in unspecified improvements to the 11-acre site. And at the end of the lease term, PBSC gets to keep the facility, which McCarley estimates will be worth between $30 million to $50 million.
Harrington added that the project will also serve as a catalyst for the development of new academic programs that will help increase revenue streams for the college, as well as boost philanthropic efforts.
Should millionaires get to use state-owned land for free?
Some real estate experts questioned the free land deal for the Tiger Woods’ venture, however.
Not only will PBSC not receive any cash rent for the property, but the lease also said that if TMRW fails to live up to all its in-kind rent promises, PBSC can’t sue TMRW for monetary damages.
Harrington said nonprofits can’t recoup money from in-kind donations.
The college can only sue to ask a judge to force TMRW Sports to perform its side of the deal, she said. PBSC also can terminate the lease.
In an emailed statement, Harrington said the monetary value of in-kind services may be perceived differently by different stakeholders, “and therefore they have no fixed dollar figure.”
“The value of the in-kind services to our students, the college, and community may not be quantified in dollars and cents. The remedy agreed to in the lease reflects the services promised to the college, which is of primary importance to PBSC regardless (of) any monetary figures,” Harrington’s statement said.
In-town property in Palm Beach Gardens is rather valuable, commercial real estate broker Peter Reed said.
He estimated the land’s value is about $2 million per acre for a total potential sales value of $20 million. Based on that valuation, Reed estimated market rent on the land could be worth about $1.5 million a year.
A September 2022 appraisal by Calloway & Price valued the land at only $5.9 million, according to a document provided to The Palm Beach Post.
Reed said he was disappointed that Woods, who lives on Jupiter Island, and McIlroy, who lives in Jupiter, weren’t willing to pay even nominal rent for the prime site in the heart of Palm Beach Gardens.
“It seems like a hell of a deal for those rich golfers and celebrities,” said Reed, managing principal of Commercial Florida Realty Services in Juno Beach.
“How is it that you live here and you don’t have to pay state income tax, and you want your virtual golf venue for free?” Reed said.
Reed said percentage rent, or even some money from concessions, including the sale of alcoholic beverages, would have been a fair bargain for PBSC if TMRW Sports was reluctant to shell out monthly rent to lease the land while the golf venue gained momentum.
And even though TMRW Sports is a new business, Reed predicted golf aficionados, including Woods’ fervent fan base, likely will descend on the arena for the chance to see Woods play in person.
“Golf is not an unproven concept,” Reed said.
Although PBSC will collect no cash rent from TMRW for the use of the land, Parker said the college will get to keep the venue after the lease term ends or is terminated.
FAU’s Johnson said the fact that PBSC gets to keep the arena, and all the improvements made to the land, makes the agreement attractive for the state college. “If I’m sitting in the seat of PBSC, I’m thinking at some point I’m going to get this building and all its technology,” Johnson said.
McCarley said the arena’s estimated worth could be as high as $50 million, in part because of the valuable technology infrastructure that will be built into the facility.
Construction on the complex is slated to begin in early 2023, with completion set for 2024.
How this innovative version of a golf competition works
In the TMRW Sports venue, top PGA Tour golfers and celebrities will compete in six teams of three players. Both Woods and McIlroy are committed to compete, the company said.
Golf simulators will be used for tee and approach shots, and putting and chipping greens will be installed for in-person play.
Plans are to telecast the two-hour golf events on Monday nights in affiliation with a still-undisclosed network. At least 15 events will be held at PBSC, with additional playoff and championship games also planned.
Eventually, sports betting could take place on the games, McCarley said.
The arena will sell tickets to the public for events, but the ticket price isn’t yet known. As part of its lease deal, PBSC will receive eight tickets for each publicly ticketed event per year.
PBSC deal not like other public-private partnerships, president says
PBSC’s Parker acknowledged that partnerships between public and private entities have not always worked as planned.
In 2006, 70 acres in public and private land was leased to Scripps Research Institute after Scripps officials made promises that a “biotech village” of companies and jobs would be built on the vacant Palm Beach Gardens property. The land is next to the Alton community on PGA Boulevard.
The land was to be conveyed to Scripps after a 15-year contract between the county and Scripps was up, on top of the $310 million Scripps received from the state and $269 million from the county. While the county staff said Scripps met the contract requirement to create 545 jobs and operate in the county for 15 years to be eligible for the land transfer, the biotech village never materialized.
Nevertheless, in 2021 the 70-acre parcel was transferred to Scripps for $1, as per the agreement with the county. UF Health now controls the land as part of its acquisition of Scripps Florida.
Parker said unlike the Scripps arrangement, the PBSC and TMRW Sports agreement not only will keep the land in PBSC’s possession, but the deal also will allow TMRW Sports’ development of the land at no cost to the college.
The property has been vacant for years, and Parker said PBSC has wanted to develop it but lacked money to do so.
“I feel comfortable with the way we have valued the support we will receive,” Parker said. “It was a fair transaction for the institution, with the dollars going into the improvements in the land and the support for our students.”
Kelly Smallridge, president of the Business Development Board, agreed.
Palm Beach County’s chief business recruitment arm helped TMRW Sports find the PBSC land after the company rejected other sites that were being considered for purchase or lease. Some of those sites were elsewhere in the state and the country.
Smallridge said the BDB suggested the PBSC site to the Woods group because it knew the college had been seeking to make use of the vacant field.
“What makes this affiliation special is the educational opportunities that will be available to students interested in exploring careers in technology,” Smallridge said.
Smallridge said the tech industry is a key element of the county’s business growth, which lately has been linked mostly to the raft of finance companies relocating from the Northeast.
She said the BDB did not participate in the drafting of the lease between the TMRW Sports affiliate and PBSC.
Alexandra Clough is a business writer at the Palm Beach Post, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. You can reach her at aclough@pbpost.com. Twitter: @acloughpbp. Help support our journalism. Subscribe today.