The NC sports betting market is living up to expectations for a golf-crazed state.
According to statistics provided by the PGA Tour, Tar Heel State bettors staked 8% of all golf betting handle nationwide since the NC sports betting market opened in March. That puts North Carolina in the top five for overall PGA Tour betting.
“As good as the state-by-state rollout has been for our sport, we haven’t unlocked what I would call the golf-friendly states,” Scott Warfield, PGA Tour vice president of gaming, told LSR recently. “If you look at California, Texas, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina, you have many PGA tour events and millions of golf fans.
“Four or five months in, we’re not declaring any victory, but we’re certainly encouraged by the early North Carolina sports betting numbers and where golf is sitting.”
NC sports betting a top golf market
North Carolina currently ranks in the top three among legal sports betting states in total number of PGA Tour bets and users. The Tour did not provide specific figures for either metric.
Ranking alongside other states, New York and Illinois, which have a tremendous population edge, supports the notion that the NC sports betting market would be a boon for golf betting.
New York and Illinois consistently rank in the top two or three sports betting markets in terms of handle each month.
Market demand for golf betting
LSR data shows North Carolina has been a top-20 market for overall sports betting volume since launching in March.
The Tour’s market access partner for NC sports betting, FanDuel, is seeing an outsized interest in golf betting in the state.
“We have witnessed incredible demand for golf since our launch in North Carolina, demand that significantly outweighs the size of the market, especially when compared to similarly situated states,” John Sheeran, strategic partnerships senior director at FanDuel, told LSR.
Rising tide lifts all boats
According to PGA Tour estimates, golf betting has kept pace with overall sports betting, up 20% year-over-year. They declined to share specific handle figures for NC sports betting and other legal markets, though some states do break out golf betting statistics.
According to Colorado, Illinois, Montana, Oregon, and South Dakota, golf betting has increased by closer to 10% from January to May over the last few years:
- 2024: $105 million
- 2023: $101 million
- 2022: $94.8 million
“We’re seeing growth, but it’s not enough,” Warfield said. “We need to be creative in how we think about our media partners and how the broadcasts can help bring opportunities in this space. That is one thing we spend a lot of time thinking about. We have not done a lot of marketing in the past, and in states where our share is increasing, like North Carolina, we need to pour gas on it.”
Popularity not growing outside NC sports betting
While golf betting volume is up, its share of the overall sports betting market is not, at least according to data from those select states:
- 2024: 1.35%
- 2023: 1.39%
- 2022: 1.43%
Maryland sports betting regulators also break out golf betting data. However, they only began providing figures in June 2023, so it is not included in the totals above. Between January and May, MD sportsbooks have handled $23.3 million on golf, good for about 1% of total volume.
Live betting opportunity for golf
Given the nature of golf, PGA Tour executives continue to be bullish on the live betting opportunity. It offers dozens of players at one time, with countless shots taking place within moments of each other.
According to PGA Tour data, about 55% of all golf betting is done live this year, up from around 45% in 2022.
“It took time to get our Shotlink data ready and integrated with operators,” Warfield said. “They had a thousand projects they needed to work on, and a new state was opening every other week, it seemed, so it took a little longer than we would have liked. But, now it has penetration, and the large operators are not only offering it but promoting it too.”
NC sports betting partner leans into live betting
FanDuel offers one of the more robust golf betting menus, including first-round leader markets, players to make or miss the cut, and prop bets on specific holes.
In the past, the only golf betting market was typically the outright tournament winner, which only kept bettors engaged during a tournament’s final round on Sundays.
Warfield believes new markets, including live betting, keep fans engaged throughout the typical four-day tournament, which runs from Thursday through Sunday.
Golfbet content comes in-house
Part of the Tour’s content marketing strategy was bringing Golfbet, its editorial website and social media content, in-house last year.
“Every day (the Golfbet team) is creating content that educates and entertains both our core fans and other bettors who are thinking about golf as an option,” Warfield said. “We have to be a little more proactive with our content.”
The move has helped grow its followers by 17,000 on Instagram.
