Long & straight

The PGA Tour on their involvement in Betting on Golf by Bill Healey

or almost as long as golf

Fhas been around, golfing enthusiasts have placed wagers on their game as well as on professional tournaments. As betting on sports in general has really skyrocketed in recent years, the same is true with organized betting on professional golf.

Sports Betting Operator is fortunate to have an exclusive interview with the PGA Tour’s Norb Gambuzza, SVP,

Media Business Development.

What has been the historical stance of the PGA Tour on betting on competitions? Previously, sports betting in the U.S. was illegal and unregulated. The TOUR supports the regulation of sports betting in the U.S. The prohibition of sports betting in the U.S. created a widespread black market and we believe regulation is a more effective way of ensuring integrity in competition, protecting consumers and generating revenue for government, operators and leagues. We also believe that safe, responsible sports betting and gaming presents opportunities for audience development and fan engagement, and we are always looking for ways to further engage our fans.

What has led to the PGA Tour’s move into betting? In anticipation of the 2018 Supreme Court ruling that struck down PASPA, and in collaboration with many of the other major leagues, we started to think about how we would operate in this space in a way that makes sense for our brand, our business and stakeholders. We started with the institution of our integrity program in late-2017, designed to educate our stakeholders and protect all of our tournaments across all tours from potential outside influences

related to gambling. Our second major step was the global partnership with IMG ARENA to license our ShotLink scoring data to online betting operators and sports media companies. Those two foundational steps to protect the integrity of our sport, members and brand have allowed us to build relationships with reputable operators (DraftKings, FanDuel, BetMGM, PointsBet) and our content partner, The Action Network.

What relationships has the PGA Tour developed with online betting systems? Following our data distribution deal with IMG ARENA, in 2021 we launched our Official Betting Operator program with DraftKings, FanDuel, PointsBet and BetMGM which unlocked rights to PGA TOUR IP and marketing opportunities across our ecosystem for a one year term. We are in the process of finalizing extensions with FanDuel, PointsBet, BetMGM and DraftKings for three year deals beginning in 2022

What type of wagering will be offered through the system? What unique wagering options will be available? Each operator offers a variety of different markets, but many include outright winner, finishing position (Top 5, 10, 20), and player matchups. Many of these wagers can be placed on a per round basis during live coverage and we expect the available markets for in-play betting to continue expanding. The Golf Event Centre product built by IMG Arena is optimized for in-play betting and as it gets integrated into more and more operator platforms it will unlock really engaging opportunities for fans to access comprehensive shot-by-shot data and markets, live streaming and interactive course visualizations. What do you see as the future of golf betting, and what role will the PGA Tour play? The nature of golf lends itself to really unique betting opportunities – particularly for in-play betting – and we think this will drive deeper engagement amongst many of our core fans and also attract a younger and more diverse audience. We will continue to take a measured approach in this space with integrity and responsible gambling at the forefront of every decision we make.

ABOVE: Norb Gambuzza, PGA Tour SVP, Media Business Development

Will the PGA Tour’s focus be in the domestic American market, or will the reach be global? While our Official Betting Operator program is largely U.S. focused at this time we are actively engaging

with partners in international markets and partnership with IMG ARENA has the Golf Event Centre product available globally, everywhere sports betting is legal; in the UK it is already live via the Bet365 platform.

Will wagering be allowed on all PGA Tour events? At this time wagering is allowed on all PGA TOUR events in states where sports betting is legal.

Will the PGA Tour involvement also include betting on non-PGA Tour events? We would need to point you to other golf organizations to discuss their involvement with betting. The DP World Tour, however, has placed its betting rights with IMG ARENA as well. Are there restrictions on who can bet on the competitions? We implemented an integrity policy in 2017 that restricts certain Covered Persons from betting on golf; this includes PGA TOUR members and players competing in PGA TOUR-sanctioned events, persons affiliated with a member or player (e.g. caddie, spouse, agent, instructor, etc.), tournament volunteers, PGA TOUR employees, PGA TOUR Policy Board members and other credentialled personnel at our tournaments.

Sports Betting

Operator would like to thank Norb Gambuzza and the PGA Tour for their participation in this article.

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