An iconic golf course, well known for drawing large crowds, is going to also be drawing legal sports betting fans beginning in 2023.
The PGA Tour’s partnership with DraftKings Sportsbook on a retail betting operation located at the home of the WM Phoenix Open broke ground on Monday.
The 12,000-square-foot operation located at TPC Scottsdale in Arizona was originally announced when DraftKings and the PGA Tour first announced their partnership in April 2021. It's being built where fans have traditionally entered the February tournament and will house a 390-seat, PGA-approved sportsbook designed with nearly 40 betting kiosks and seven ticket windows.
The decision by the golf organization shows a deeper desire to wade more into the sports betting waters.
"When you look at legalized sports betting, we're seeing more engagement," PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan said at the TPC Scottsdale ceremony Monday.
"So when we look at our network broadcasts, our cable broadcasts, our social media platforms, the amount of time that people are spending researching play, researching what's happening, what's happening in the field of play, researching historical data. There's a level of intelligence that's coming into our sport, a level of understanding that's probably far greater now than it was five years ago."
PGA Tour blueprint
This could be just the beginning of the PGA Tour's involvement in retail sports betting. While there are currently no plans to create a string of sportsbooks at golf venues, Monahan said this is a "big deal," and the Tour will consider other locations depending on how the Scottsdale sportsbook operates.
The Tour also makes stops in legal sports betting states like North Carolina, Louisiana, and Connecticut.
"But this is unique. TPC Scottsdale, the WM Phoenix Open, this is not just unique in golf, it's unique in all of sports," Monahan said. "That's what makes this the perfect opportunity for the first one."
The PGA Tour has been visiting the Phoenix area since 1932. The WM Open has run consecutively since 1939 and is renowned for its raucous environments that draw over 700,000 fans per year.
The TPC Scottsdale sportsbook will not operate during the weeklong tournament, but there are online sports betting sites available for bettors.
TPC Scottsdale joining the partnership trend
Golf is joining a rising trend in sports venues hosting retail sportsbooks.
Just last week, the Illinois legislature proposed a bill that could allow for licensed sports betting operations at Wrigley Field, Soldier Field, and the United Center in Chicago.
Sports betting becomes legal in Ohio on January 1 and the state is setting up a similar model in terms of partnerships with pro sports teams that Arizona currently uses.
In the Phoenix area alone, TPC Scottsdale joins a list of other sports venues that have partnered with sportsbooks for retail sites — including State Farm Arena, home of the NFL’s Arizona Cardinals, the Phoenix Speedway, the Footprint Center, where the NBA’s Phoenix Suns live, and Chase Field, where the MLB’s Arizona Diamondbacks play.
Sports betting has become big business in Arizona, which reported a year-over-year increase handle of 85%, as the state saw $245 million more wagered in September 2022 than that month the previous year.
DraftKings is also fully entrenched in the state as one of the top sportsbooks and operators. Regulated sports betting started in Arizona in September 2021 and there are currently 17 operators across the state.
