Expands DraftKings’ rights to include betting in addition to daily fantasy
PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. and BOSTON, July 28, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The PGA TOUR and DraftKings Inc. (Nasdaq: DKNG), have announced an expansion of their multi-year content and marketing relationship today that now designates DraftKings as the first “Official Betting Operator of the PGA TOUR.” In July 2019, DraftKings became the TOUR’s first “Official Daily Fantasy Game of the PGA TOUR” as part of a multi-year, exclusive arrangement.
“The PGA TOUR couldn’t be more pleased with growing our collaboration with DraftKings,” said Norb Gambuzza, PGA TOUR Senior Vice President, Media and Gaming. “The growth in consumption and fan engagement we have seen over the last year in our DraftKings Daily Fantasy games has been tremendous. 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.”
By becoming the first to join the TOUR’s Official Betting Operator program, DraftKings will have rights in the United States to use PGA TOUR trademarks, rights to advertise within TOUR media and TOUR partner platforms, plus 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.
"DraftKings and the PGA TOUR have continued to make history with the innovative additions to our agreement which began last year,” said Ezra Kucharz, Chief Business Officer of DraftKings. “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.”
Several of the most popularly bet PGA TOUR events in DraftKings company history have occurred since the TOUR’s return in June. Currently, in terms of sports betting, golf is DraftKings’ fourth most popular sport.
Fans can access DraftKings Sportsbook and PGA TOUR DraftKings Fantasy Golf in legal states by visiting www.draftkings.com or by downloading the DraftKings app via iOS and Android.
Following the Supreme Court’s repeal of the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act in 2018, the TOUR instituted an integrity program in collaboration with Genius Sports to protect its competitions from betting-related corruption. Later that year, the TOUR announced a global partnership with IMG ARENA to license its official, live scoring data to betting operators all over the world.
In July 2019, following an update to its sponsorship policies in the gaming category, the TOUR partnered with DraftKings to relaunch “PGA TOUR DraftKings Fantasy Golf” with exclusive intellectual property to differentiate DraftKings in the daily fantasy space. This past March, The Action Network and the PGA TOUR announced the launch of GolfBet, a first-of-its-kind, golf-focused betting content platform.
The PGA TOUR and DraftKings are Platinum Members of the National Council on Problem Gambling, committed to industry-leading responsible gaming practices.
The PGA TOUR also runs its free-to-play fantasy games, including PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf, PGA TOUR One&Done, and PGA TOUR Champions One&Done. These games and related content can be found at https://www.pgatour.com/fantasy.html.
About DraftKings
DraftKings Inc. (Nasdaq: DKNG) is a digital sports entertainment and gaming company created to fuel the competitive spirits of sports fans with products that range across daily fantasy, regulated gaming and digital media. Headquartered in Boston, and launched in 2012 by Jason Robins, Matt Kalish and Paul Liberman, DraftKings is the only U.S.-based vertically integrated sports betting operator. DraftKings is a multi-channel provider of sports betting and gaming technologies, powering sports and gaming entertainment for 50+ operators across more than 15 regulated U.S. and global markets, including Arkansas and Oregon in the U.S. DraftKings’ Sportsbook offers mobile and retail betting for major U.S. and international sports and operates in the United States pursuant to regulations in Colorado, Indiana, Iowa, Mississippi, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and West Virginia. DraftKings’ daily fantasy sports product is available in 8 countries internationally with 15 distinct sports categories. DraftKings is the official daily fantasy partner of the NFL, MLB and the PGA TOUR as well as an authorized gaming operator of the NBA and MLB.
About PGA TOUR
By showcasing golf’s greatest players, the PGA TOUR engages, inspires and positively impacts our fans, partners and communities worldwide.
The PGA TOUR, headquartered in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, co-sanctions more than 130 tournaments on the PGA TOUR, PGA TOUR Champions, Korn Ferry Tour, PGA TOUR Latinoamérica, Mackenzie Tour-PGA TOUR Canada and PGA TOUR Series-China. Members on the PGA TOUR represent the world’s best players, hailing from 29 countries and territories (93 members are from outside the United States). Worldwide, PGA TOUR tournaments are broadcast to 212 countries and territories in 23 languages. Virtually all tournaments are organized as non-profit organizations to maximize charitable giving. In 2019, tournaments across all Tours generated a record $204.3 million for local and national charitable organizations, bringing the all-time total to more than $3 billion.
Fans can follow the PGA TOUR on PGATOUR.COM, the No. 1 site in golf, on the PGA TOUR app and on social media channels, including Facebook, Instagram (in English, Spanish and Korean), LinkedIn, Twitter, WeChat, Weibo, Toutiao and Douyin.
Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements made in this release are “forward looking statements” within the meaning of the “safe harbor” provisions of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. When used in this press release, the words “estimates,” “projected,” “expects,” “anticipates,” “forecasts,” “plans,” “intends,” “believes,” “seeks,” “may,” “will,” “should,” “future,” “propose” and variations of these words or similar expressions (or the negative versions of such words or expressions) are intended to identify forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance, conditions or results, and involve a number of known and unknown risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other important factors, many of which are outside DraftKings’ control, that could cause actual results or outcomes to differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking statements. For a discussion of additional risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements, see DraftKings’ Securities and Exchange Commission filings. DraftKings does not undertake any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.
CONTACT:
Mark Stevens, PGA TOUR, 904-861-5112, markstevens@pgatourhq.com
DraftKings Media Inquiries: media@draftkings.com