The IMG Arena betting and data division of sports media giant IMG has expanded its scoring data partnership with golf’s PGA Tour to the North American market.
Under the deal, IMG Arena will be able to distribute official data from the PGA Tour to North America-based operators for media and betting purposes.
The expanded partnership will also include betting sector exclusivity for the delivery of live, shot-by-shot match and event data to global operators.
The two parties have been working together since November of last year, with IMG Arena serving as the Tour’s official data distributor for media and betting purposes across all events on the PGA Tour schedule. The PGA Tour organises many leading golf events including The Players Championship and FedEx Cup.
PGA Tour data is collected through ShotLink, its proprietary system powered by cloud computing solutions provider CDW that deploys a network of walking scorers, lasers and greenside cameras to gather the information. The product is set to be made available worldwide in legal betting markets early next year.
“The PGA Tour remains focused on safeguarding the sport, growing the game and deepening fan engagement with next-generation solutions,” PGA Tour chief operating officer, Ron Price, said.
“IMG Arena has proven credentials delivering fast data and live streaming in partnership with official rights-holders, and we’re pleased to further extend our existing relationship.”
Freddie Longe, senior vice-president and managing director at IMG Arena, added: “As the sports betting market in the United States evolves, extending our relationship with the PGA Tour is an important next step for IMG Arena. For the first time, sports fans will have access to shot-by-shot action, from tournaments all-year-round using official PGA Tour ShotLink data.
“We continue to feel that golf has the audience, interest and following to become one of the leading in-play betting sports globally.”