Bet365 continues to make moves that keep North American bettors on their toes.
On Tuesday, the PGA Tour announced bet365 as its first online betting operator outside North America. The golf betting partnership largely pins itself to the United Kingdom, Ireland and Australia, but the deal touches Canada sports betting.
“We are excited to work with bet365 to expand the Tour’s sports betting initiatives outside of North America,” PGA Tour VP of Gaming Scott Warfield said in a release. “Bet365 was the first operator to integrate the Tour’s official in-play betting product and they are poised for tremendous growth being on the forefront of in-play sports betting in golf.”
Circling US sports betting
While bet365 is one of the largest sports betting brands in the world, the operator has yet to make significant inroads in US sports betting. The PGA Tour’s headquarters is in the US, but the new partnership keeps the sportsbook at arm’s length from the market.
The sportsbook is live for New Jersey sports betting and could launch Colorado sports betting this year. The operator also launched Ontario sports betting in April, switching over from the gray market.
Despite its lack of US activity, its global stature continues to raise the question of when it might make a splash in the states.
“Bet365 is the biggest enigma in sports betting,” a US sportsbook executive told LSR earlier this year. “Here is the one company that could seriously come in and compete on the top tier. They’ve got limitless cash flow coming in from every corner of the globe. And yet they have done almost nothing in the US.”
Bet365, PGA Tour partnership details
The deal makes bet365 the exclusive odds provider on PGATour.com in the UK, Ireland and Australia.
Beyond that, the operator will have a presence on PGA Tour media properties in those markets. That also includes publications like Golfdigest.com in the markets above and Canada.
The sportsbook also gains the rights to use the PGA Tour marks in the four markets. The agreement runs through 2024.
