You don’t always think golf when you think sports bets. Basketball and football, yes. Boxing, too. Maybe even tennis where one player goes up against another. But golf?
Next year, however, golf will roll out on-site gambling options, PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan told Golfweek magazine.
“When done right, it gives fans the opportunity to engage with your sport over a longer period of time and have more interest in what’s happening across the entire player field,” Monahan said.
Monahan says the tour has put the right systems in place, both in terms of integrity and monitoring activity. Specifics weren’t revealed, but Monahan said the Tour will be working with IMG Arena on building out a gambling platform.
Before the May 2018 Supreme Court ruling that allowed sportsbooks across the country, full-service books operated legally only in Nevada. In 2019, the operations opened in seven more states. As of this summer, sportsbooks have been legalized but haven’t yet begun operating in another five U.S. states, plus the District of Columbia. Bills are awaiting final approvals in Illinois, Maine and New Hampshire, and Colorado voters will decide the matter for that state this month.
