PGA Tour, Action Network Strike Betting Content Partnership

By Brian Steinberg

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – The PGA Tour plans to make betting information available more widely to fans, the latest example of a major sports league digging deeper into connecting its followers with gaming as more states begin to allow interactive wagering on sports matches.

and Action Network, a sports-betting site and app backed by The Chernin Group, will launch GolfBet, a betting content outlet that will be hosted at . Under terms of the deal,  PGA Tour will provide GolfBet content distribution via its digital platforms, footage rights to support GolfBet video content, and official data to ensure that GolfBet and The Action Network offer golf fans and golf bettors the most accurate data available.

“We believe that golf fans and sports bettors alike are in search of a deeper level of information that has not existed until the launch of GolfBet,” said Norb Gambuzza, PGA Tour’s senior vice president of media and gaming.  “We are bullish that GolfBet content and the growth of sports betting will drive fan engagement and expand our overall audience.”

The two companies expect GolfBet to be largely free “for the foreseeable future” they said in a news release Monday. They plan to work with PGA Tour’s domestic media partners, as well as Discovery, which has a deal to show PGA Tour content in overseas markets, on opportunities outside the U.S.

“Our consumers are passionate golf fans, and we are excited about the opportunity to enhance our coverage via the launch of the GolfBet platform,” said said Patrick Keane, CEO of , in a statement.

The PGA Tour has taken steps to grapple with the new popularity of betting in the recent past. In 2018, it unveiled an integrity program aimed at protecting its events from potential outside influences related to gambling. PGA Tour also that year struck partnership with IMG Arena to license its official, live scoring data to betting operators all over the world. In August, the PGA Tour partnered with DraftKings to relaunch “PGA Tour DraftKings Fantasy Golf.”

“In a typical PGA Tour season, there are approximately 1.2 million golf shots taken across our schedule,” Gambuzza said. “This represents a massive opportunity for in-play betting, new types of markets for operators who have access to official PGA Tour data, and tremendous opportunities for content generation. We think that The Action Network has the unique expertise to develop a diverse array of tools, analysis, and other content which will help fans and bettors understand, access, and enjoy these new betting opportunities as the market evolves.”