PGA Tour's Golfbet Partnership With The Action Network Hints At Aggressive "In-Play Betting"

Remember the old days when Tim Finchem didn’t even like the PGA Tour getting in those high stakes, dozen-balls-to-the-winner world of fantasy golf?

If he only knew what would make Shotlink even more valuable in the coming years.

Because the post-Finchem PGA Tour is touting partnerships even when only 25 states legally allow sports gambling (Though by the end of 2021 essentially every state populated by more people than cows is expected to make sports betting legal.)

While I would never condone such duplicitous behavior (though do keep an eye on Nadal in the Derby), the PGA Tour insists its approaching things carefully by partnering with the Action Network and saying they are wading into the pool, not diving head first.

John Lombardo and Bill King of Sports Business Daily covered the Action Network partnership, how it allows PGATour.com to separate itself from a deadly sin and spoke to Norb Gambuzza, the PGA Tour’s SVP of Media, Gaming and Crapshooting, Or Something To That Effect.

And it sounds like gambling was a draw for networks re-upping media rights.

“The betting space is a topic of significant interest with all of our media partners,” Gambuzza said. “Having this deal sync up with our media deal was important.”

Gambuzza suggested the Action Network deal (full press release below) suggests an awareness that too much gambling talk will backfire.

“We’re going to give [Action Network] video, give them data, collaborate on functionality and push fans there,” Gambuzza said. “We’re going to talk about Action Network content on our digital platforms and social platforms. But we’ve got to do that in a matter that is not obtrusive or too direct or in our fans’ faces. We’re going to wade into the pool instead of jumping in, and experiment a bit.”

As for the GolfBet “platform” announced Monday, it will not be a place to bet.

Note in the press release that data on shots is a focus, suggesting that the PGA Tour’s belief fans will want to bet on shots.

For Immediate Release:

The Action Network and the PGA TOUR today announced the launch of GolfBet, a first-of-its-kind, golf-focused betting content platform. GolfBet will be powered by The Action Network and hosted at www.actionnetwork.com/golf, and also will be available within The Action Network app. Through the strategic partnership, the PGA TOUR will provide GolfBet content distribution via TOUR digital platforms, footage rights to support GolfBet video content, and official TOUR data to ensure that GolfBet and The Action Network offer golf fans and golf bettors the most accurate data and compelling content 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 SVP Media & Gaming. “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.”

“The PGA TOUR is one of the most forward-thinking leagues and rightsholders around the massive growing legal sports betting business,” said Patrick Keane, CEO of The Action Network. “Our consumers are passionate golf fans, and we are excited about the opportunity to enhance our coverage via the launch of the GolfBet platform.”

The PGA TOUR has been very active recently in the betting space, including a 2018 announcement of an integrity program, partnering with Genius Sports to protect its competitions from potential outside influences related to gambling. Later that year, the TOUR announced a global partnership with IMG ARENA to license its official, live scoring data to betting operators all over the world, which will revolutionize in-play betting on golf and will be available to the market later this year. In August, the TOUR partnered with DraftKings to relaunch “PGA TOUR DraftKings Fantasy Golf,” with exclusive intellectual property to differentiate DraftKings in the daily fantasy space. Now, with the launch of GolfBet, the PGA TOUR is developing a robust betting content ecosystem that supports both sports betting and daily fantasy.

“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.” 

In 2019, The Action Network produced more than 800 individual pieces of golf-related content and offered robust bet tracking and analysis tools focused on golf. “Action Network users tracked over 50 million picks on our platform last year, and golf was our fastest-growing segment at nearly 300 percent year over year,” Keane said.  

In addition to The Action Network producing the majority of the weekly content for GolfBet with well-known experts like Jason Sobel, Josh Perry and Peter Jennings, GolfBet will also strike partnerships with other media companies to power the platform.

“We envision GolfBet as a one-stop platform where fans can get all of the most relevant and up-to-date betting information,” Keane added.

Max Wright, Senior Vice President of IMG ARENA, said, “Golf was one of the few major sports that had not yet offered consistent in-play betting markets. We see a massive opportunity for growth through ‘in-play’ betting once our official PGA TOUR betting data hits the market later this year. This partnership between PGA TOUR and The Action Network is hugely complementary. 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.”

GolfBet content is planned to be largely subscription free for the foreseeable future. The PGA TOUR and Action Network plan to work with TOUR’s domestic media partners, as well as Discovery on ex-U.S. collaboration opportunities, as GolfBet continues to grow on a global basis.

Besides the obvious concerns about fan interruptions intended to influence a wager, I’m still not clear on whether there is time to look at data AND bet on a live shot.

As someone who watched 2019’s The Match with an eye on live betting, it was clear that even with just two players, between sharing a pertinent stat and execution of the shot, making a bet would require a fast connection and easy method to make a selection. Maybe that will come within the PGATour app or on The Action Network at some point.

Either way, these days of golf gambling are a far cry from the old days.