The Professional Golf Association (PGA) Tour, and betting-focused sports media company the Action Network have launched GolfBet, a new golf-focused betting content platform.
GolfBet will be powered by the Action Network, available on the network’s website and app, and will include official PGA Tour content and data. The platform will feature content from Action Network analysts such as Jason Sobel, Josh Perry and Peter Jennings.
“The PGA Tour is one of the most forward-thinking leagues and rightsholders around the massive growing legal sports betting business,” Patrick Keane, chief executive of The Action Network, said.
“Our consumers are passionate golf fans, and we are excited about the opportunity to enhance our coverage via the launch of the GolfBet platform.”
Norb Gambuzza, PGA Tour’s senior vice president of media and gaming added that the partnership allows fans to easily access a much deeper level of information than they would elsewhere in order to inform their bets.
“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,” Gambuzza explained. “The Action Network is the perfect partner to create this type of content platform to educate and entertain fans about responsible betting on golf while bolstering the overall gaming ecosystem.
“We are bullish that GolfBet content and the growth of sports betting will drive fan engagement and expand our overall audience.”
Gambuzza added that golf was a perfect sport for in-play betting, which is a relatively new market in the US, and so GolfBet can help customers become more familiar with the format.
“In a typical PGA Tour season, there are approximately 1.2 million golf shots taken across our schedule,” he 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.”
Max Wright, Senior Vice President of IMG Arena, which signed a deal to become the PGA Tour’s official data distributor for media and betting purposes across all events in September 2019, said the deal was a major boost to IMG as well as the PGA Tour and Action Network.
“This partnership between PGA Tour and The Action Network is hugely complementary,” Wright said. “We believe that an information hub like GolfBet which delivers high quality content to help to inform and educate users about golf and golf betting will be a net positive for the growing golf betting market.”