Search
Choose a style
Dark
Light
Data
Rugby player in the NRL passing the ball out after a scrum.
BREAKING
Data
Time to read: 4 min
NRL dominates 2023 with record revenue and viewership
February 21, 2024
greyhound racing
BREAKING
Data
Time to read: 2 min
UK greyhound racing data up for grabs as PGR rights go to tender
February 2, 2024
FairPlay conducts first M&A under new identity just one week after rebrand
BREAKING
Basketball
Time to read: 3 min
FairPlay conducts first M&A under new identity just one week after rebrand
January 30, 2024
Sportradar
BREAKING
Data
Time to read: 3 min
Sportradar restructures business divisions in line with strategic plans
January 25, 2024
Real Madrid celebrating a goal vs Barcelona
BREAKING
Data
Time to read: 4 min
Real Madrid secures Money League’s top spot with record revenues
January 25, 2024
Wilson tennis ball on a wooden bench.
BREAKING
Data
Time to read: 2 min
Amer Sports announces IPO of 100 million public shares 
January 24, 2024
Dave Abbott brings sportstech experience to US Integrity CPO role
BREAKING
Data
Time to read: 2 min
Dave Abbott brings sportstech experience to US Integrity CPO role
January 17, 2024
credit: Shutterstock
BREAKING
Data
Time to read: 2 min
Sportradar launches FanID for a new way to collate data
January 16, 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
Data
Time to read: 5 min
PGA Tour, IMG & DraftKings: Why golf is the perfect in-play betting sport
December 18, 2023
BREAKING
Data
Time to read: 3 min
Racecourse Media Group taps Ellipse for AI data feeds to “demystify” horse racing 
December 18, 2023
BREAKING
Cricket
Time to read: 2 min
IMG ARENA granted exclusive global data and streaming rights for Cricket West Indies
December 15, 2023
RIGA, LATVIA. 1st of July, 2019. European Women Basketball Championship, commonly called Eurobasket Women 2019 , game between team Latvia and team Sweden in Arena Riga, Riga, Latvia.
BREAKING
Basketball
Time to read: 2 min
Genius gets extension to long-running FIBA deal with new AI edge
December 13, 2023
BREAKING
Data
Time to read: 2 min
Sportradar signed as data integrity partner of ATP 
December 12, 2023
Saudi takes next sporting steps in hosting WTA Finals
BREAKING
Data
Time to read: 2 min
Stats Perform extends WTA data rights deal until 2030
December 11, 2023
genius sports
BREAKING
Data
Time to read: 2 min
Genius launches FanHub ID for sports marketers and content creators
December 7, 2023
BREAKING
Data
Time to read: 2 min
Sportradar welcomes Jim Bombassei as SVP of Corporate Finance 
December 4, 2023
Harry Coe, Luscid: Realising the full business potential of sports data
BREAKING
Data
Time to read: 4 min
Harry Coe, Luscid: Realising the full potential of brand data for sports sponsorship
November 29, 2023
The esports report image.
BREAKING
Data
Time to read: 3 min
The esports report - Retail remains key for the esports sector
November 23, 2023
BREAKING
Data
Time to read: 2 min
GRID and Ubisoft to unlock more from esports with new data-centric partnership
November 10, 2023
The esports report image.
BREAKING
Data
Time to read: 3 min
The esports report - ESI London 2023 and the importance of financial literacy in gaming 
October 26, 2023
BREAKING
Data
Time to read: 2 min
Report: New Zealand’s All Blacks takes first place in global rugby brand value
October 12, 2023
BREAKING
Asia
Time to read: 2 min
PA Betting Services deepens racing portfolio with iRace Media acquisition 
October 3, 2023
Harry Coe, Luscid: Realising the full business potential of sports data
BREAKING
Data
Time to read: 2 min
Stats Perform to supply EA with real-time player data for the upcoming FC24
October 2, 2023
1 … 5 6 7 8 9 … 21
Featured Articles
Sideline Moves: Arsenal layoffs
BREAKING
Features
Time to read: min
Sideline Moves - Arsenal to cut 60 jobs amid new Arteta deal
October 16, 2026
Paramount-Warner Bros acquisition complete
BREAKING
Features
Time to read: min
New Paramount-Warner Bros deal creates $55bn sports conglomerate 
October 7, 2026
Michael Jordan at SBC Summit 2026
BREAKING
Basketball
Time to read: min
SBC Summit: Michael Jordan on sport branding, NASCAR, and more
September 29, 2026
Manchester City found guilty of almost all 155 charges
BREAKING
Features
Time to read: min
Manchester City found guilty of almost 115 Premier League financial breaches
September 25, 2026