The head of professional golf’s PGA Tour has said his organization is examining ways the sport can benefit from the legalization of sports betting.
Speaking at the Sports Business Awards last week, PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan said the tour is embracing sports gambling as a way to bring more viewers to the sport. He said the organization is developing partnerships with sports betting operators, under which the tour will provide data to fuel the multitude of prop bets possible within PGA Tour events.
“There’s an endless amount of matchups and prop bets with as many as 125 players teeing it up each week,” reports Golfweek, “opening the door for split-screen broadcasts and the potential to change the way golf is consumed with an a la carte broadcast experience.”
“We’ve spent a lot of time over the last two and a half years clearly understanding all of our options and getting ourselves in a position where we can participate,” Monahan said of sports gambling at the awards event. “Participate with the right partners, and participate in a way that we think resonates with fans. Without getting in front of it, I think you can expect to hear developments from us in the second half of this year.”
Golfweek reports that the tour is testing an upgrade of its ShotLink Plus data system, and Monahan has already announced a deal with IMG Arena to distribute data directly to betting operators.
“I think it allows a fan to be well-informed about how a player plays on a certain golf course, how a player plays in certain tournaments, how a player plays in certain conditions,” Monahan said of the data-gathering. “I think it’s going to feed the heavy appetite that people have not only to consume our content but, as gaming continues to develop, if they’re going to participate…
“There’s so many different points of entry, from operators to daily fantasy to just games within broadcasts that are non-betting games, just to the way you orient yourself understanding the way people are consuming information.”
