With the world, particularly the sports world, mostly on hold through at least late May, fans are craving some action. At this point, something is better than practically nothing.
So how about a big something?
Phil Mickelson piqued the interest of the golf world on March 29, when he tweeted that he was "working on" a sequel to his 2018 high-stakes golf match against Tiger Woods in Las Vegas.
Working on it
— Phil Mickelson (@PhilMickelson) March 30, 2020
How great would The Match 2 be? The original version of The Match was played at Shadow Creek in Las Vegas around Thanksgiving weekend, originally set for pay-per-view. While thousands purchased The Match for traditional TV, hundreds of thousands watched for free when Bleacher Report's B/R Live digital service proved unable to take payments. That meant a large audience got to watch Phil and Tiger go to a unique playoff hole, which they played several times before Mickelson emerged the winner of the $9 million, winner-take-all event.
Fans weren't surely what they were seeing, so one spoke up just to make sure Mickelson was serious.
I don’t tease. I’m kinda a sure thing
— Phil Mickelson (@PhilMickelson) March 30, 2020
The first big sports event to happen in the coming months will generate huge interest, even from people who don't particularly care about that sport. It could be a tremendous opportunity to raise money for charities and initiatives around coronavirus recovery, bringing together corporate donations, player bets (using their own money, maybe?) and proceeds from pay-per-view purchases.
Moreover, The Match 2 could be one of the safest possible sporting events not played virtually. Mickelson and Woods would only have their caddies, Tim Mickelson and Joe Lacava, and there would only need to be a cameraman per hole in a tower position and a cameraman for each player. The stationary cameramen would obviously be able to practice social distancing, and the player-focused camera operators could do it safely as well. Commentators could provide color from separate booths. There would be no fans.
Let's make this happen.
