Simplebet clinches partnership with Saudi-backed LIV Golf league
Micro-betting operator becomes breakaway golf league’s official sports betting innovation partner ahead of PGA Tour merger as questions remain over deal
Simplebet has confirmed a strategic partnership with LIV Golf to become the league’s first official sports betting innovation partner.
Under the terms of the deal, Simplebet will distribute the league’s real-time competition data to sports betting operators and media platforms globally, with an emphasis on low latency streaming across the US and other markets.
The partnership is LIV Golf’s first with a major sports betting operator or supplier.
Simplebet CEO Chris Bevilacqua welcomed the deal as a “transcendent moment” for the micro-betting technology supplier.
“We’ve revolutionized the way audiences around the world connect with live sports by unlocking fan engagement opportunities and together with LIV Golf, we will create the new blueprint for how sports leagues can maximize their IP through innovative betting,” Bevilacqua added.
LIV Golf, backed by the Saudi Arabia-based Public Investment Fund, was founded in 2021 as a breakaway challenger league to the more established PGA Tour and the pair have engaged in a very public spat involving several major golfers recruited off the tour to the more lucrative LIV Golf league.
That spat seemingly ended with a ceasefire last month, with LIV Golf and the PGA Tour agreeing a merger which is expected to be completed in 2024.
The merger is currently the subject of an investigation by the Federal Trade Commission, US Department of Justice, and the US Senate over competition fears and the involvement of Saudi Arabia in the deal, which is widely considered to have an egregious record of human rights violations.
“Developing new ways that golf can progress into the future has been a league tenet since day one,” LIV Golf commissioner and CEO Greg Norman said.
“With golf becoming an increasingly popular sport within the multi-billion-dollar sports betting market, our league is proud to work with Simplebet which aligns with our competition model that every shot from every player is meaningful, from start to finish,” he added.
However, one state where betting on LIV Golf events will not be allowed is Massachusetts, with Massachusetts Gaming Commission officials rejecting a request by licensed operator DraftKings to add league events to the list of approved betting events in the Commonwealth.
The MGC voted 5-0 to deny admission to the catalogue, seemingly tabling the issue for 2024, when the ongoing speculation regarding the merger will, it is hoped, be resolved.