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Investment & Strategy
Newcastle United
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Football
Time to read: 3 min
Newcastle United’s Co-Owner reveals multi-club plans
March 8, 2024
Real Madrid logo on a white flag.
BREAKING
Football
Time to read: 2 min
Carlo Ancelotti could face prison time over alleged tax fraud
March 6, 2024
Soccer ball and judge gavel on green background close-up.
BREAKING
Data
Time to read: 3 min
Football tops match-fixing concerns in 2023 Sportradar report
March 5, 2024
Euro notes on a foosball table.
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Football
Time to read: 2 min
Spanish police arrest 53 in global sports betting fraud
March 4, 2024
Crystal Palace corner flag.
BREAKING
Features
Time to read: 4 min
Crystal Palace owner labels FFP as a “fraud term”
March 1, 2024
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BREAKING
Features & Analysis
Time to read: 1 min
Pogba banned from football for four-years over doping violation
February 29, 2024
The sports landscape has a huge range of commercial stakeholders, from governing bodies and tournaments themselves to data distributors, broadcasters and betting operators. Representing these respective sectors, IMG Arena’s Commercial Partnerships Manager for Golf, Rowan Northcott, DraftKings’ Head of Golf Trading, Stuart Purling, and PGA Tour’s VP Gaming, Scott Warfield, discussed with SBC why golf is the ideal in-play betting product. SBC: Rowan, can you give us an introduction to IMG ARENA and golf? RN: IMG ARENA signed long-term deals with the PGA TOUR, DP World Tour and LPGA Tour in 2018, 2019 and 2022 respectively, with the vision that golf was a sleeping giant within the sports betting landscape. Since then, we have also been fortunate to add golf’s largest events to our portfolio including the Ryder Cup, PGA Championship and Presidents Cup, underlining our commitment to the sport for the foreseeable future. Following the establishment of these partnerships, we created the Golf Event Centre, a turnkey golf betting solution. The Event Centre uses shot-by-shot data to allow fans to follow every shot in an immersive 3D environment. Our data hub ingests this shot data to generate an odds feed enabling fans to bet on every shot, from every player, and on every hole, encompassing 30,000+ different markets at each tournament. Live streaming from two par three holes and an enhanced statistics suite is seamlessly integrated in the product to provide a holistic offering for our sportsbook clients and give golf bettors a one-of-a-kind experience. SBC: What prompted IMG ARENA’s investment in golf? RN: Golf has all the hallmarks of a perfect in-play betting sport. Before we formally entered this space there were no more than 10 markets available, with settlement at the end of the round or tournament. With three to five minutes between every shot, golf is perfectly suited to in-play with bettors having ample time to evaluate the market and selection. Each tournament offers around 35,000 shots per tournament, producing a staggering amount of betting opportunities for fans of the sport. The global nature of golf from every time zone equates to significant “up-time” as sportsbooks have access to live golf from Thursday-Sunday. We knew it would take time for bettors to acclimatise to our offering, but we are now seeing signs, particularly in the booming US market, of in-play golf betting very much taking off. I often think back to when Scott and I were at this year’s WM Phoenix Open. Looking on at the famous 16th hole, we saw first-hand how excited fans were about placing bets on which player would hit it closest to the pin. This sums up the fast-paced and innovative betting activity that we are trying to create that was amplified by one of golf’s most famous tournaments. The excitement created for bettors gives all 35,000+ shots of a tournament its own story. SBC: Scott, now that the Golf Event Centre is established within operators’ platforms and the PGA TOUR’s fans are becoming more affiliated with your tournaments as a betting proposition, what comes next in this journey? SW: With the Golf Event Centre now available to the vast majority of the betting population, we are focused on growing the reach and engagement of the product through a few key avenues. In 2023, we brought the Golfbet content brand in-house which, through both our O&O and social properties, is a key lever to engage and inform golf bettors. With the PGA TOUR’s robust ShotLink data and tournament access, we can bring golf storytelling to life through a betting lens unlike any other platform and are continuing to invest in content production and innovative data tools. In addition to digital and social innovation, we have an opportunity to capitalise on the intersection of media and betting through our robust media ecosystem, including broadcast and D2C streaming. Over the coming months, fans will continue to see an organic evolution of our live coverage to incorporate engaging decision-making data alongside live competition. Last, but not least, we are continuously finding new ways to collaborate with our official betting operator partners across our collective platforms to bring world-class golf offerings to sports fans and bettors. SBC: Rowan, what are IMG ARENA’s plans for golf as a betting proposition? RN: The first challenge is to place the correct insight in front of the customer at the right time to help them make an informed decision. Therefore, we are doubling down on statistics and insights. Visualisation of these insights is key, so we released our very own strokes gained model this year and challenged our data engineers to make this information digestible. Hence the use of radar charts, percentages and rankings tables. Secondly, we want to focus on offering fans the chance to watch and bet, rather than watch or bet. Interactive streaming and bringing all the features of the product into one place is a key focus of ours across a range of sports, not just golf. Finally, in 2024, we have a host of exciting new features coming next year using AI that should add a completely new dimension for the bettor – again adding to engagement
BREAKING
Golf
Time to read: 3 min
PGA Tour emphasises commitments by joining RG coalition
February 28, 2024
Male judge banging hammer.
BREAKING
Latest News
Time to read: 3 min
NCAA faces upheaval as court clears athletes for NIL deals
February 26, 2024
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BREAKING
Features & Analysis
Time to read: 2 min
Everton 10 point deduction reduced to six after successful appeal
February 26, 2024
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BREAKING
Fan Engagement
Time to read: 3 min
DFL abandons €1bn Bundesliga investment amid fan backlash
February 23, 2024
Brazil sports stakeholders await executive signature of Betting Bill
BREAKING
Features
Time to read: 6 min
Martin Lycka: Taking Entain’s RG flag into Brazil’s emerging sports marketing ecosystem
February 22, 2024
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BREAKING
Integrity
Time to read: 2 min
James Blake charged by ITIA over breaching betting sponsorship rules
February 22, 2024
Brazil sports stakeholders await executive signature of Betting Bill
BREAKING
Europe
Time to read: 2 min
Felippe Marchetti to lead Sportradar’s Brazil integrity operations
February 15, 2024
A large group of cyclists on the road.
BREAKING
Cycling
Time to read: 3 min
Unibet launches 'Follow Your Heart' with Tour de Tietema
February 14, 2024
Premier League
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Football
Time to read: 3 min
Premier League club finances debate shows no signs of dying down
February 12, 2024
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BREAKING
Football
Time to read: 2 min
Ceferin makes fourth term u-turn to step down from UEFA Presidency in 2027
February 8, 2024
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BREAKING
Football
Time to read: 2 min
Huddersfield Town’s Kian Harratt handed four month ban over betting violations
February 8, 2024
A man with an open jar of pills while weight lifting.
BREAKING
Integrity
Time to read: 4 min
The ‘drug-friendly Olympics’ Enhanced Games receives funding
February 6, 2024
A range of sporting equipment on grass.
BREAKING
Integrity
Time to read: 3 min
IBIA applauds tennis' progress in successful 2023 report
January 31, 2024
Sportradar partners with Euroleague Basketball in second integrity deal of 2024
BREAKING
Basketball
Time to read: 2 min
Sportradar partners with Euroleague Basketball in second integrity deal of 2024
January 30, 2024
Players in a line before playing in an international football game for Canada.
BREAKING
Football
Time to read: 3 min
CSB strips Mediapro of broadcast rights 
January 30, 2024
Sportradar
BREAKING
Data
Time to read: 3 min
Sportradar restructures business divisions in line with strategic plans
January 25, 2024
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BREAKING
Features & Analysis
Time to read: 2 min
UEFA Chief leaves amid Ceferin’s push for a fourth Presidential term
January 25, 2024
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Featured Articles
LIV Golf player Jon Rahm
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Commercial
Time to read: min
LIV Golf 2.0 has a backer, but the players have already given their answer
November 2, 2026
Sideline Moves: Arsenal layoffs
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Features
Time to read: min
Sideline Moves - Arsenal to cut 60 jobs amid new Arteta deal
October 16, 2026
Paramount-Warner Bros acquisition complete
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Features
Time to read: min
New Paramount-Warner Bros deal creates $55bn sports conglomerate 
October 7, 2026
Michael Jordan at SBC Summit 2026
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Basketball
Time to read: min
SBC Summit: Michael Jordan on sport branding, NASCAR, and more
September 29, 2026