PGA Tour Announces Expanded Partnership With Draft Kings
On July 28th, the PGA Tour and Draft Kings announced they are expanding their multiyear partnership. DraftKings will be the Tour’s first official betting operator. The two entities partnered a year ago, making DraftKings the Tour’s Official Daily Fantasy Game.
The new deal grants DraftKings the right to use PGA Tour trademarks and will allow them various advertising options on all the Tour’s platforms. DraftKings also stated they would create “content and video rights allowing DraftKings’ Sportsbook solution to create pre-game and post-game betting programming, as well as distribution of highlights to users who have placed bets.”
“The growth in consumption and fan engagement we have seen over the last year in our DraftKings Daily Fantasy games has been tremendous,” stated Norb Gambuzza, the PGA Tour’s senior VP of media and gaming. “The expansion of the relationship to now include sports betting is a natural evolution and one which fully supports and promotes the PGA Tour’s objectives of reaching and engaging new segments of fans while introducing them to our players, tournaments and media platforms.”
According to the press release, DraftKings has seen a massive rise in golf bets made since the Tour’s return in June. Currently, in terms of sports betting, golf ranks the fourth most popular DraftKings sport to place wagers.
“DraftKings and the PGA Tour have continued to make history with the innovative additions to our agreement which began last year,” stated DraftKings chief business officer Ezra Kucharz. “We are excited to further our relationship with the PGA Tour as their first official betting operator as well.
“Golf has been an especially important outlet for fan engagement over these past few months, and this latest collaboration is a significant next step for both the golf and gaming industries.”
DraftKings went public on the NASDAQ in April. The expanded partnership with the PGA Tour is another example of the company’s efforts to expand its sports sponsorship portfolio. Last November, they partnered with the NBA and this February announced partnerships with the Boston Celtics, the Indiana Pacers, and the Philadelphia 76ers.
The terms of the new deal with the PGA Tour were not disclosed.
