Follow live: What's happening in Tiger vs. Phil

They've talked about it for months. Finally, Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson are going to actually get down to playing their $9 million winner-take-all match. From the first shot, to the side bets, to the conclusion, we have you covered for every hole of their trip around Shadow Creek Golf Course in Las Vegas.

Scoreboard: Mickelson 1 up through 16 holes
16th hole: Par 5, 626 yards
The same story continues ... two pars. Both had a chance at the long par 5, but as has been the case all day, neither could make anything happen.

15th hole: Par 4, 467 yards
See if this sounds familiar: Both have to scramble for par. Mickelson hits a perfect, classic Phil flop shot to kick-in range. Woods hits an awful chip after missing the green and then misses the putt to fall back into a hole with three holes left.

The chatter between Tiger and Phil has been, well, mostly non-existent. "We got into our old mode of trying to beat each other's brains in," Woods says as they walk down the 15th fairway.

14th hole: Par 4, 488 yards
Finally, a longest drive challenge ... and neither hits the fairway. So much for that. That means nobody gets the $100,000 for that side bet. But both hit fantastic second shots from the fairway bunker, leaving each with birdie putts inside 15 feet. Mickelson misses on the edge on the low side, Woods misses on the edge on the high side.

$100k long drive on the 14th hole, gotta be in the fairway to collect. Both Tiger and Phil miss the fairway and find the bunker. These are the two guys I know!

Mickelson and Woods with birdie putts that somehow don't tumble into the hole on 14. Mickelson took credit for Tiger's miss: "I think I just willed his out," he says as he walks toward the 15th tee.

13th hole: Par 3, 213 yards
Mickelson talks Woods into another closest to the pin, this one for $300,000. And Mickelson wins again, curling one inside 10 feet while Woods settles in at 15 feet. Woods cannot convert, missing narrowly on the high side. Mickelson confidently walks up to his and drills it in the heart to even things up again.

Phil says to an official walking up the 13th, "It's amazing how quiet it gets on the back nine." Laughs and then proceeds to win the 13th hole and the $300k side bet. All Square going to the 14th hole!!

The 13th hole was productive for Phil Mickelson. He wins $300,000 on a closest to the pin wager, then rolls in a birdie putt to win the hole and square the match with Tiger Woods. Not a bad little hole for Phil.

12th hole: Par 4, 394 yards
Woods hits a perfect drive. Hits his second shot to 2 feet. Mickelson concedes the short one to Woods, then misses his long putt. Woods grabs his first lead. The 11th and 12th holes could be where Woods turned this match around and ran away with things.

FIRST LEAD OF THE DAY FOR TIGER WOODS!!! It happens on the 12th hole with a wonderful shot from 74 yards to a gimme!

Mickelson should have built a lead over the first few holes. He didn't. Now, finally, Woods might be figuring things out. Be careful, Phil.

11th hole: Par 4, 284 yards
Both players took a swipe at the reachable par 4. They agree on another side bet: Either makes eagle it is worth $200,000. Both tee shots just miss the green, but Woods' ball comes to rest in an easier spot. He chips up close for a conceded birdie. Mickelson's flop runs 12 feet by the hole. He can't convert the putt and Woods wins the hole.

All square through 11 holes and Phil Mickelson knows it shouldn't be this close. "I can't keep letting him hang in like this," he says.

Tiger squares match with a tap in birdie on the par 5 11th. Woods hasn't led one hole so far today and the talk between the two is sporadic at best.

10th hole: Par 4, 438 yards
Another hole, another pair of pars. Woods has to scramble for his, while Mickelson two-putts his way in.

This was the great fear with Tiger Woods vs. Phil Mickelson, that it would be ... blah. For 10 holes, it's been blah.

Ninth hole: Par 4, 391 yards
Things got interesting at No. 9. On the tee, they bet $100,000 if somebody makes an eagle. After two good tee shots, they up it $1 million. Neither comes close. In fact, both hit atrocious second shots with short irons in hand. Both end up scrambling their way to pars.

Most people underestimate the trash talking ability of Phil Mickelson. On the par 4 9 (391 yards) Lefty just made a side bet of $100k if anyone makes a two and the bet just got REAL!!! Both hit perfect drives and Phil said, "Let's throw another zero on it." That's a MILLION dollars for either player who makes a 2!!!!

Eighth hole: Par 3, 190 yards
Tiger gave another shot at a closest to the pin bet, this one for $200,000. Woods hits a poor shot, some 40 feet from the hole. Mickelson hits almost the same shot, but his rolls back and stops at 38 feet. Another bet on the putts: If Tiger makes, he gets $50,000. If Phil makes, he gets $40,000. Neither comes close, so no cash exchanged. And Woods' putt was so bad - he mumbled a four-letter word as soon as he hit it -- he had 8 feet left for par and missed that. Mickelson makes his putt to take back the lead.

FIRST F BOMB!!! Tiger hits a horrible putt after a side bet of $50k with Phil on the 8th green. Still has 10' left for par.

Let's be honest about this: Tiger Woods is lucky he is only 1-down through eight holes and Phil Mickelson has missed an opportunity to have a nice, big cushion.

Seventh hole: Par 5, 557 yards
With both balls in the fairway off the tee, Woods tried to coax Mickelson into a side bet. Whoever has the best score on the hole, starting with their second shots, for $200,000. Given Woods hit it 40 yards past Mickelson, Phil tried to negotiate some odds. He asked for 3-2. Woods wouldn't bite. No wager. Smart move by Mickelson, who dumps his second and third shots in the bunker. Woods finds the right fringe in two, lags his putt down and has tap-in for birdie and his first win.

One aspect of The Match that would help squelch many of the negatives: great golf. So far, that hasn't been the case. Through 7 holes, there have been just 3 birdies between them, all coming on the par-5s. Tiger looks like extremely rusty, and while Phil's game has been more solid, he has not taken advantage.

Sixth hole: Par 4, 516 yards
Both players with makeable birdie putts. Neither even threatens the hole. Two pars. Another hole halved. The biggest thing? Tiger is not happy with how he is playing. A lot of mumbling to himself.

The undeniable truth over six holes of The Match: Tiger Woods is not happy with how he is playing. A lot of phrases after tee shots and irons and putts that have the same basic premise -- "that's bad."

Fifth hole: Par 3, 137 yards
A little side action on this one: $100,000 for closest to the pin. That's an easy payout for Mickelson, who knocks one close while Woods misses way right. As for the match, Woods navigates a long two-putt and Mickelson misses from inside 8 feet -- worse yet, he left the putt short -- as the hole gets halved.

Closest to the pin challenge on No. 5 for $100,000. Mickelson hits his tee shot inside 10 feet. Woods misses by a mile. Tiger says it himself: "That was so bad." Yes, yes, it was.

Tiger has been a bit shaky, missing a 4-footer for par, wayward with a couple of drives, unable to hit it close from 137 yards on a par-3. But he managed to coax in a 4-footer for par to remain 1-down after losing closest to the pin at the fifth.

Phil wins the $100K closest to the pin on the par 3 5th but can't make the 10' putt. At 1up there's definitely not a lot of chatter between these two. Phil is winning the match 1up while Tiger has $100k of Phil's money left from the initial side bet.

Fourth hole: Par 5, 564 yards
The first good-good of the match. Woods wide off the tee, but finds his way to get in position for a 5-footer for birdie. Mickelson finds fairway and is right next to the green in two. He chips to 5 feet. They pause for a moment or two, then agree both putts are good and move on.

The front nine favors a fade for a lefty and a draw for a righty. Phil loves to hit the fade cause it's easy to control. Tiger hates the "hook" so on both the 3rd and 4th holes when a draw was required Woods hit a fade and is in trouble again.

Third hole: Par 4, 476 yards
They took different routes to the hole, but both end up with par. Woods was wild off the tee and had to scramble, sliding his par putt in the side door. Mickelson plays steady -- fairway, green, two putts. Different ways to make par, but same end result.

Second hole: Par 4, 430 yards
First hiccup. After both players miss the green with short irons in their hands, Woods cannot convert from inside 3 feet. The fun of match play: Make the opponent putt 'em.

Two holes for Tiger. So far, we’ve gotten “dammit” three times from Tiger.

TIGER MISSES A 3' par putt on the 2nd hole!!! He early walked it! Phil goes 1up!

And with that missed putt by Tiger, Phil Mickelson cashes at +260 to win Hole 2. In-match odds at MGM are -115 for both golfers.

First hole: Par 4, 379 yards
Woods and Mickelson both hit iron off the first tee and leave themselves in fine shape. Tiger hits his approach to 10 feet, but his birdie slides by on the right side. Phil has 9.1 feet for birdie, which is worth more than just a 1-up lead. His pre-round side bet was that he would make a birdie at No. 1, a wager worth $200,000.

The putt misses, and the hole is halved. But ... Mickelson loses $200,000.

"That hurts the pocket," Woods says.

Phil unable to convert at the first and Tiger has an extra $200K for his foundation. Tiger quipped "Good speed,'' as Phil laments that the putt did not break. All square through one.

Tiger and Phil wandering down the first fairway making small talk, talking about the weather and the course and their kids.

Before the round ...
Over 77 percent of money at MGM on Phil Mickelson before the match begins. His odds up to +130. Tiger Woods goes off at -150.

A reminder that The Match will not start slowly. Phil Mickelson will win $200,000 from Tiger Woods if he birdies the 415-yard, par-4 first. Tiger gets the money if Phil fails to do so. Phil first proposed $100,000 and Tiger asked to double it. There will be a few other side bets throughout the match, with the funds coming from each player, and the winner able to donate to the charity of his choice.

Trash talk has started ... Phil: Tiger, you decided to go with red today? Looks good on you. Tiger: You went with black, huh? Very slimming.

Tiger and Phil getting in some work on the practice putting green prior to The Match at Shadow Creek.

When Charles Barkley started going on about hitting balls to get warm before every round, Samuel L. Jackson jumped in, "If I wanna get warm before a round, I turn on the heated seats in my car."

Who wins The Match: Tiger or Phil?

Two players, each easily defined by one name: Tiger. Phil.

As they finally get set to play in a made-for-TV, $9 million, winner-take-all match Friday at Shadow Creek in Las Vegas, our experts gathered to answer the most important questions, from the best possible side bets to the match they'd actually rather see and, of course, who wins this one:

Give me one good reason to watch?

Bob Harig: It's Tiger and Phil. Say what you want about The Match and all the negatives associated with it, we are still talking about two iconic figures in the game who, while they might be past their primes, are still compelling figures. Plus, both won tournaments this year. At the very least, there should be a curiosity factor. Even if there is no longer the animosity between the two players, there remains a healthy amount of ego and competitiveness about them that suggests this could be interesting.

Michael Collins: I'll give you three -- Charles Barkley, Samuel L. Jackson and Pat Perez in the pregame show. Even if Tiger and Phil don't talk smack, those three will be awesome talking smack about Phil and Tiger

Ian O'Connor: It's pretty rare in any sport to see a generation's two defining players go one-on-one in anything. Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers got plenty of people watching their matchup for a reason, and yes, they were playing a game that counted in the standings. But I think most sports fans would watch Brady and Rodgers compete in a big-money skills competition while they were miked up for sound. Many years ago, I would've spent $10 to see Bjorn Borg and John McEnroe play an exhibition match at the end of their primes. Just as I'll spend $20 Friday to watch Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson play an exhibition match at the end of theirs (and I won't even ask ESPN for reimbursement).

Kevin Van Valkenburg: At some point, one of them will pull off a shot that's jaw-droppingly good. Even though the stakes are low, watching two of the best to ever do it pull off a miraculous recovery (or three) is going to be fun. And if by some chance it turns out to be a fantastic duel, you'll regret you passed on it.

What side bet would you love to see during this match?
Harig: Simple: a wager on total fairways hit. Or, better yet, they pick a specific driving hole where the driver is required and challenge the other player to hit the fairway for whatever takes are on the line. Both players have struggled with this aspect of play, and hitting a fairway with the driver with more on the line than having a good lie in the fairway would be fun to see play out.

Collins: Last par-3, closest to the pin. Loser caddies the Par 3 Contest on Wednesday at the Masters.

O'Connor: Deep into the back nine, with the match tighter than Mickelson's pants, I'd like to see Tiger standing over a tricky, left-to-right, 9-foot downhill putt before Phil steps in and says, "If you make this putt, I will give you my winnings from my next tour victory, or my earnings from my highest placement next season if I don't win. If you miss this putt, you will extend me the same courtesy." And then I'd love to see Tiger drain it before Phil staggers off to the next tee.

Van Valkenburg: Tiger and Phil switch clubs for one hole. Winner takes $100,000. Phil is a natural right-hander who swings lefty, so he might have the advantage. But Tiger has the best hand-eye coordination the game has ever seen. I wouldn't make either the favorite. Play it straight up.

If you could pick one other match, involving any two players, who would you rather see teeing it up on Friday?

Harig: Jordan Spieth vs. Patrick Reed. We've still yet to really hear what happened in the aftermath of the Ryder Cup, when Reed called out Spieth, suggesting he didn't want to play with him. That alleged feud led to a change in Ryder Cup teammates for several players and may very well have had some impact on the eventual outcome -- or at least the lopsided manner of the defeat. Maybe Reed and Spieth could take it out on each other on the course.

Collins: Spieth vs. Reed. Call it "The Golden Child vs. The Shunned One." While Spieth would try to play nice, Reed would be all up in there talking smack until Spieth snapped and went on a curse-filled tirade. You wouldn't pay $20 for THAT?!

O'Connor: Spieth vs. Reed. Given that Spieth clearly filed for divorce before the Ryder Cup and broke up his near-perfect on-course match-play marriage with Reed -- even if that marriage was defined by great chemistry and precious little love -- a match-play monster like Reed would be out for blood, lots and lots of blood. Spieth's golden-boy image has taken a direct hit, and he likely would feel very uncomfortable cast as something of a villain in Reed's trash-talking presence. Tension is required for great individual duels, and this one would have an ample supply. Prediction: Reed by technical knockout.

Van Valkenburg: Reed vs. Rory McIlroy. Maybe I'm kidding myself thinking we'll ever get a redux of what happened in the Ryder Cup at Hazeltine, but that was the most enjoyable match I've ever seen in person. Reed remains perpetually aggrieved and McIlroy has something to prove this year. Their contrasting styles and personalities would make it even more memorable.

Who wins more over the next year: Tiger or Phil?
Harig: Tiger. He seems better positioned to do so at this point. He's coming off a year in which he not only won, but contended at two majors and had four other top-10s. After Phil's victory in Mexico, he had just a single top-10 the rest of the year. Undoubtedly he will be motivated to improve in 2019, but Tiger is primed to win more.

Collins: Tiger will win more. I can't give away how much because I spent so much time on my predictions (coming next week!) and I need y'all to go read it.

O'Connor: Tiger, hands down. He had a remarkable summer, all things considered, and then was completely exhausted after his Tour Championship victory. Fatigue makes cowards, and Ryder Cup disasters, of us all. Even after he missed the U.S. Open cut at Shinnecock Hills, I thought Woods would still win at least one more major -- assuming his body holds up. He nearly went back-to-back at The Open and the PGA, so I see a two- or three-victory tour season for him in 2019, including his 15th major triumph at one of the three venues where he's already won: Augusta National, Bethpage and Pebble Beach. Mickelson will win once, a non-major, if he's lucky.

Van Valkenburg: Tiger. I think that's a no-brainer. Phil's belief that he's going to get to 50 career wins seems like magical thinking. He would need to reel off about three a year over the next two years to have a shot, as age 50 looms large. (Maybe Phil was counting Champions Tour wins; who knows with him.) But Tiger has at least three more regular-season wins in him, and maybe all in one year. He spent all season figuring out his new swing. I suspect he's got it figured out by now.

Prediction time ... who wins this match?

Harig: For all the reasons that Phil is an underdog -- lackluster play of late, a resurgent Tiger, etc. -- I think he will win. Mickelson loves this challenge, and 18 holes of match play, with banter and side bets and the possibility for some gamesmanship, suits him perfectly. Mickelson has had an entire career of Tuesday practice-round match antics. He is perfectly suited for this type of challenge. While Woods will bring plenty of game, Phil squeaks this one out. 1 up.

Collins: Tiger wins 6 & 5, but they play out 'til the 18th hole for the side-betting action.

O'Connor: They were both dreadful in France, which does subtract a bit from this desert duel. In the end, Woods has been the far superior player over the course of their careers, and his 14-5 advantage in major titles identifies him as the much better pressure player. No, this isn't the Sunday back nine at the Masters, and no, this isn't going to impact either player's legacy. But Woods has always considered himself an athlete first, a golfer second, and his competitive spirit won't allow him to lose a one-on-one exhibition against someone he regards as a lesser athlete, golfer and closer. Tiger 2 & 1.

Van Valkenburg: Has anyone ever wanted to win a meaningless match worse than Phil wants this? I think he's going to somehow pull it off. He chips in on 17 to square it up after trailing much of the day and wins 1 up with a birdie at the last.

Why it's OK to ignore the issues of Tiger vs. Phil

It all seemed like good fun back in May when Phil Mickelson began playfully poking Tiger Woods as they were to be grouped together for one of the rare times in their careers on the PGA Tour.

Mickelson was setting the stage for what would become known as The Match, to be played on Friday with a winner-take-all purse of $9 million in Las Vegas.

Back then, it just seemed like Phil being Phil.

"It gets me thinking," Mickelson said in reaction to all the hype surrounding him playing with Woods at the Players Championship (along with Rickie Fowler). "Why don't we just bypass all the ancillary stuff of a tournament and just go head-to-head and just have kind of a high-stake, winner-take-all match?

"Now I don't know if he wants a piece of me, but I just think it would be something that would be really fun for us to do, and I think there would be a lot of interest in it if we just went straight to the final round."

Later, Woods went along, suggesting he'd be happy to take on Mickelson for "whatever makes him uncomfortable."

That was the first public vetting of something that had already been in the works, the idea of a one-on-one matchup that would take place for big money -- and possibly set the stage for other matches. Mickelson had hoped it would come together by the Fourth of July, and it was around that time that the first details began to emerge.

What appeared then to be an interesting idea has taken considerable hits in the lead-up to this 18-hole encounter at Shadow Creek.

Charging via pay-per-view probably leads the list, forcing those who might be intrigued to make a decision about parting with $20 to watch an otherwise meaningless exhibition on television.

The fact that this type of encounter would have played better in their primes is also prominently mentioned, with even Rory McIlroy chiming in last week, saying that it "missed the mark a little bit."

Certainly the play of Woods and Mickelson at the Ryder Cup -- they combined to go 0-6 in a deflating performance as part of a United States loss to Europe -- didn't help.

And nor does the huge sum being played for, an amount even Woods suggested was "astronomical."

All perfectly good reasons to have your doubts.

Counterargument: so what?

With a nod to all the negative takes, why not just sit back and enjoy it for what it is, two of the game's legends going head-to-head in a big-money match with some trash talking and side bets thrown in?

Nobody is suggesting this is major championship theater, or even Doral-level drama. (Their 2005 showdown during the final round in Miami was epic and remains -- unless it happens at a major in the twilight of their careers -- their best head-to-head matchup).

Yes, having to pay for it is annoying, but, as even Mickelson noted, that $20 can be split among friends who take in The Match together. While not suggesting how to spend other peoples' money, we are talking about a discretionary income choice that many would squander on other dubious endeavors. And it is Black Friday after all, a day associated with money-spending opulence.

And then there are a couple of issues concerning the big money being offered.

Many have opined they'd only care about this if the two players put up their own cash.

Such a proposition is naive. What athletes in any other sport have done something similar? It's never happened and never will, and to think that these guys would be the first to do it lacks an understanding of their place in the entertainment, marketing and endorsement world.

Depending on the outlet tracking such things -- Forbes, Golf Digest, etc. -- Woods and Mickelson earn in excess of $40 million per year apiece in off-the-course income. Mickelson makes well into six-figure paydays for one-day outings that are not televised. Woods can command $2 million plus for overseas tournament appearance fees.

The what-should-be-obvious point here is that these guys garner a healthy sum for walking across the street to tee up a golf ball. They are not going to -- nor do they need to -- put their own money on the table. (And to be clear, neither player will walk away from this with nothing; both of their management teams are heavily invested, and nobody is working for free.)

The $9 million amount seems gaudy to some (it was actually $10 million before the PGA Tour got involved and asked the parties to play for less, wanting to protect the prestige of its $10 million FedEx Cup payout -- which is actually going to $15 million in 2019). Again, for guys who each have a couple of eight-figure endorsement deals, nobody should be shocked at that number.

The charitable components of The Match are so far unclear, and this should be spelled out better. If every PGA Tour event donates proceeds to charity, so should this one-day exhibition. That said, Woods and Mickelson are hardly slouches when it comes to charity, as evidenced by their own foundations.

So yes, the event has its flaws, to be sure. Playing this in, say, 2006 -- at a point when Woods and Mickelson combined to win four of the five majors played in a 12-month period -- might have brought more intrigue, but the result would not be any more meaningful, or historically significant, than what will transpire Friday. This will not alter the legacy of either player.

This is simply an entertainment play (and perhaps a test to see more of these type of matches in the future, maybe with Tiger and Phil as partners), with a gambling component that we are likely to see more prominent in sports, including golf. Tiger and Phil are two of the game's biggest stars, even at this late stage in their careers.

Not everyone is on board with this, and that is understandable. But it is hardly a blight on the game or on the individuals taking part. As Woods often says, "It is what it is."

And it might actually be fun.

Sorry, Tiger and Phil, these are the matches we'd rather see

If everyone is debating whether to pay to watch Tiger vs. Phil, I think setting up next year's match with the golfers we'd shell out $20 to see will be easy.

I know Reed would do most of the smack-talking -- until Spieth got to a boiling point. That's what everyone would be paying to see.

You'll have to keep checking your television to make sure it's not on mute. It won't be. Oh, it'll feel like it though. Silence. That's exactly how much talking will be going on. They might mumble a word or two to each other, and we know what that would sound like. So ... Vegas side bet: Over/under on how many times you hear "bro" or "brah" is set at 125.

Here's the rule: Neither of them can talk. Just let them be surrounded by hecklers and see what happens. Poulter's hecklers are chosen from Twitter and Thomas' come only from select Auburn fans.

The last time these two dudes faced off in the 2016 Ryder Cup at Hazeltine, the drama was off the charts. In that one, they showed good sportsmanship. But put them in a PPV, where neither would be afraid to say things that would get under the other's skin and without having to worry too much about the PC police? Yeah, sign me up for that.

No, these two wouldn't talk a ton of smack, but Tiger needs another shot at him. Molinari got the best of him at The Open -- he won while being paired with Tiger on Sunday at Carnoustie -- and then got him again at the Ryder Cup. I think Molinari has Tiger's number, but he also hasn't faced Tiger's best.

On the surface, this one would seem to be all about the hair products. I mean, look at these two guys. But once you get them out there and going, just listen to the trash talk. They can both bring it. So while it might seem like an ad for gel and hairspray, people will be happily surprised by the smack and the level of golf.

This match would be the only time two Americans faced each other, and the audience might actually need an interpreter. It's going to be "coefficient of restitution determining a bilateral or unilateral protractor based on the biomechanics in an environment of ..." We're going to need some Advil about 15 minutes into this one.

You don't need any sound to be entertained by this one. Five hours of these two, with just facial expressions and body language, would be enough. The good news, though, is when you turn on the sound, they'd be smack-talking themselves.

I want them to feel like they are by themselves because that's the only way to get them to truly go toe-to-toe. I want Stevie Williams back on Tiger's bag and Glen Murray on Sergio's. It would go back to what UFC originally was -- just a bare-knuckles brawl. Four guys out there, and let's see who comes out. My money would be on Williams walking out alone.

Neither of them hits a shot. No one notices. No one cares. They think it's a magazine cover shoot. And people are fine with that.

Tale of the tape: Tiger vs. Phil

The two biggest names in golf over the past 25 years -- Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson -- will meet in a winner-take-all $9 million match-play event the day after Thanksgiving at Shadow Creek Golf Course in Las Vegas.

Their careers speak for themselves.

Sure, it's not 15 years ago, when the two were in the middle of their glory days, but still, it's two of the sport's greatest. Need proof? Here's the evidence:

Phil, Tiger ready to bet on the coursePhil Mickelson and Tiger Woods join PTI to reassure Tony Kornheiser and Mike Wilbon that there will be side wagers in The Match.

Mickelson says match vs. Tiger is a 'sprint, not a marathon'Phil Mickelson joins Scott Van Pelt to preview his upcoming $9 million match against Tiger Woods and how it differs from competing for majors.

Technical issue causes Turner to stream 'The Match' for free

Those who weren't planning to pay $19.99 for "The Match" between Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson on Friday got a break when Turner executives decided, at the last minute, to give away the stream for free.

The decision came after a technical issue with the purchasing mechanism on Bleacher Report Live made it hard for fans to purchase The Match, a source told ESPN.

"We experienced a technical issue on Bleacher Report Live that impacted user access to 'The Match,'" Turner spokesman Nate Smeltz said. "We took a number of steps to resolve the matter with our main priority being to deliver the content to those who purchased the event."

The source with knowledge of the issue said there was no impact on the other carriers (Xfinity, DIRECTV, AT&T) charging for The Match.

The added amount of viewers, some of whom found out about the free stream on social media, did not seem to impact the quality of the stream itself.

It is not known if Turner will credit those who paid, though a case could be made that those who paid did in fact get the product.