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DraftKings to offer first-ever Presidents Cup and Ryder Cup contests, signaling the continued growth in golf DFS

December 06, 2019

Anyone playing Golf DFS (daily-fantasy sports) might’ve thought they were done for the year with the PGA Tour's fall season wrapped up. But based on the increasing popularity it's seeing in the sport, DraftKings has told Golf Digest that it is hosting a Presidents Cup contest for next week’s matches at Royal Melbourne in Australia. The contest goes live today on DraftKings' interfaces.

It's the first time DraftKings, which recently inked a deal with the PGA Tour to be the tour's official daily-fantasy partner, will offer contests for a team match. The Boston-based company will also host contests for the 2020 Ryder Cup, which will take place next September at Whistling Straits in Kohler, Wis. Survey results from 2019 told the company that 80 percent of its users said they would play a Presidents Cup game.

DraftKings also shared some updated data on the boom in our sport and DFS: Golf is now the fourth-most popular sport on the company's DFS platforms. Golf DFS has grown 25 percent for the company in 2019 with more than 25 million entries for golf this year, DraftKings says.

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The future of golf and gambling will be interesting to track. Last week, the San Diego Union Tribune reported on the progression of the PGA Tour's betting contract with IMG Arena to bring in-tournament betting to golf fans "sometime in early 2020," the outlet reported. What that looks like isn't clear just yet, but it represents the tour's continued willingness to embrace betting as a part of its sport, which is hand in hand with its partnership with DraftKings. The DraftKings and PGA Tour partnership includes shared ShotLink data between the two entities, which has a ton of potential for amplification as soon as the technology is streamlined.

“Ever since the Supreme Court’s decision last year we have been publicly engaged about sports betting, traveling the country talking to state officials and our constituents,” Andy Levinson, PGA Tour senior vice president of tournament administration, said in February. “The public sentiment has generally been positive.

“The benefits of these relationships is tremendous, not the least of which is, from an integrity perspective and having the ability to work with organizations, we’ll gain some insight on what’s going on, from that perspective, in our sport. Fan engagement is also a key and the ability to reach people who might not otherwise follow our sport.”