Lately, Turner Sports activities introduced the sixth version of The Match, an exhibition collection of golf competitions. The occasion is scheduled for early June and can embody two groups with two gamers: Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers towards Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen.
The 4 quarterbacks make up the league’s prime rivals. Every has obtained an NFL MVP award, although solely Brady, Rodgers, and Mahomes can additional declare Tremendous Bowl wins. Actually, they signify the highest groups listed in NFL odds for subsequent 12 months’s Tremendous Bowl: Brady for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Rodgers for the Inexperienced Bay Packers, Mahomes for the Kansas Metropolis Chiefs, and Allen for the Buffalo Payments.
These gamers might be swapping their helmets for slacks in a uncommon four-way face-off once they meet on the inexperienced on the Wynn, the Las Vegas golf course located on the strip.
The Match VI
Solely Mahomes and Allen might be collaborating of their first The Match battle. Brady and Rodgers every took half in an identical contest final summer season, The Match IV, at Moonlight Basin in Large Sky, Montana. They partnered with PGA Tour greats Phil Mickelson (with Brady) and Bryson DeChambeau (with Rodgers) at the moment.
The exhibition match was an enormous success, which led on to this 12 months’s newest iteration which options solely soccer stars. So as to add one other layer to the sport, Brady and Rodgers might be pitted towards Mahomes and Allen in an old-guard vs. new-guard format.
Brady, age 44, retired from the NFL this 12 months earlier than launching a comeback weeks later. Rodgers, age 38, can also be approaching his closing years as he pushes for one final Lombardi with the Packers.
In the meantime, Mahomes and Allen are firstly of their careers. Mahomes, age 26, commanded the NFL’s most profitable contract value half a billion {dollars} over ten years. Allen, age 25, confronted an unsure future within the NFL earlier than turning across the Payments’ franchise in 2020.
Constructing on Previous Crossovers
The primary iteration of The Match: Tiger vs. Phil (2018) noticed the largest names in golf, Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson, battle it out for an exhibition match at Shadow Creek Golf Course. The occasion turned out to be a smash hit. Actually, there was a lot hype across the pay-per-view occasion that Turner Sports activities confronted an overload with subscriptions and needed to supply refunds.
A rematch was quickly scheduled for 2020. Nonetheless, Turner Sports activities switched the format by bringing on the occasion’s first NFL stars. Brady partnered with Mickelson, whereas Woods partnered with prestigious quarterback Peyton Manning.
Charles Barkley, former NBA star and present broadcaster, joined as an analyst, whereas Justin Thomas of the PGA Tour was introduced in as an on-course reporter. The occasion was rebranded as The Match: Champions for Charity, because it included a prize purse that might be donated in its entirety.
New Exhibitions for Outdated Rivals
Woods and Mickelson aren’t simply a few of golf’s best gamers—they’ve additionally been prime rivals. The identical goes for the NFL quarterbacks signed on for the upcoming The Match VI. Actually, Brady stamped out Mahome’s Chiefs to steer the Buccaneers to a Tremendous Bowl win final 12 months.
Nonetheless, this is without doubt one of the occasion’s largest points of interest for followers: pitting rivals towards each other in a leisure format. It’s confirmed much more standard for golf-football crossover followers—in spite of everything, attending to see prime athletes compete in new sports activities towards their rivals is a Hollywood-esque setup.
The final occasion hosted by Turner Sports activities set the PGA Tour’s most embittered rivals towards one another in The Match: Bryson vs. Brooks. For over a 12 months, DeChambeau and Brooks Koepka, each prime skilled golfers, traded more and more tense phrases at main tournaments and by way of social media.
The battle between the golfers ended up being one of many most-watched The Match exhibitions, with a mean of 1.2 million viewers. Ultimately, Koepka established himself because the winner of the feud with a closing rating of 5 and three.
