PGA Tour and The Action Network announce golf betting content platform

The PGA Tour and The Action Network are partnering for the launch of a golf-centric betting content platform the two entities announced Monday morning. The platform, named GolfBet, will be powered and hosted online by The Action Network with the Tour providing data, video rights and content distribution via their digital platforms.

This move is the latest in the trend of sports leagues leaning further into the world of gambling in the aftermath of the U.S. Supreme Court ruling the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act to be unconstitutional in 2018.

“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 the PGA Tour’s SVP Media & Gaming Norb Gambuzza in a statement. “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.”

This is not the first time the Tour has explored the sports gambling space. In 2018, the Tour announced an integrity program with Genius Sports protecting its competitions from outside influences related to gambling. They also announced a partnership with IMG Arena to license its gambling operations that same year. In August, the Tour and daily fantasy sports giant DraftKings partnered to relaunch “PGA Tour DraftKings Fantasy Golf.”

Professional sports leagues in the U.S. were long against sports gambling, but since the Supreme Court’s ruling in 2018, they’ve been searching for the best ways to monetarily capitalize on the industry. This move appears to be the next step in capitalizing off the opportunity created by the decision.

While it isn’t exactly clear what it will look like, the content from GolfBet is planned to be “free for the foreseeable future,” according to the statement, and both partners will be working with the Tour’s media partners to grow the platform on a global scale.

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

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