IMG ARENA, a leading sports betting service and content hub, has acquired the sports betting distribution rights to its first golf major, the PGA Championship, through the championship’s organiser and rights holder, the PGA of America.

The collaboration between IMG ARENA, the PGA of America and the PGA TOUR begins with the 2021 PGA Championship, contested May 17-23 at The Ocean Course at Kiawah Island Golf Resort, Charleston, South Carolina.

As part of its offering IMG ARENA will distribute data and live streaming of two par-3 holes (based on market availability), via its Golf Event Centre. The revolutionary, front-end sports betting solution is an industry-first product, created in association with the world’s leading golf tours to enable interactive in-play betting on the sport.

The Golf Event Centre is the only place to find a comprehensive range of real-time, shot by shot data and markets, as well as live streaming and interactive course visualisations.

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Data from the PGA Championship will be collected by ShotLink® powered by CDW, the PGA TOUR’s proprietary scoring system, which utilises an elaborate network of walking scorers, lasers and greenside cameras.

Max Wright, SVP Commercial of IMG ARENA, said: “Golf majors are among the most prestigious events across all sports, so we are very excited to secure this partnership with the PGA of America.

“The PGA Championship has a reputation for producing dramatic and thrilling moments, making it a perfect addition to the Golf Event Centre for sports bettors to enjoy through our global operator partners.”

Featuring the strongest field in the game, based on the Official World Golf Rankings, the PGA Championship is the second of golf’s four annual majors. Winners of the famous Wanamaker Trophy include Brooks Koepka, Rory McIlroy, Tiger Woods, Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player.

PGA of America Chief Executive Officer Seth Waugh said: “This partnership will allow fans to engage with one of our flagship events – the PGA Championship – in ways they’ve never been able to before. This is truly a new avenue to reach beyond dedicated golf fans and grow interest in the game from a more diverse fan base. We’re excited for what this opportunity will bring now and, in the future, especially when the PGA Championship is hosted in states where sports betting is permitted.”

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Rick Anderson, Chief Media Officer at the PGA TOUR, said: “IMG ARENA’s Golf Event Centre is a one-of-a-kind sports betting product that delivers a new dimension to the golf experience for fans around the globe. Aligning with the PGA of America to add the PGA Championship to the Golf Event Centre demonstrates how the golf community is working together to elevate and protect the sports betting experience for fans while at the same time enhancing operators’ market offerings for professional golf.”

Headquartered in London, IMG ARENA works with more than 470 leading sportsbook brands worldwide to deliver live streaming video and data feeds for more than 45,000 sports events annually, as well as for on-demand virtual sports products including the UFC Event Centre. In 2020, more than 210 million hours of IMG ARENA content was watched by 69 million unique viewers around the globe. IMG ARENA’s clients include the ATP, UFC, European Tour, PGA TOUR, the FA, and Serie A.