SG Digital scores multi-sport deal with IMG Arena

Scientific Games' online division SG Digital has agreed a wide-ranging deal with IMG Arena, the sports betting subsidiary of media giant IMG, that will see it add new datafeeds and virtual sports content to its OpenSports product suite.

While the agreement covers the provision of virtual sports alongside tennis and badminton data services, the most notable element relates to golf. SG Digital becomes IMG Arena's first platform partner for its Golf Event Centre solution, which provides clients with shot-by-shot data, live streams of events and interactive course visualisations from the Professional Golfers' Association (PGA) European and US tours. 

“The Golf Event Centre brings a new level of immersion and engagement that will positively shake up the live betting experience and the industry as a whole,” SG Digital’s senior vice president sportsbook, Keith O’Loughlin, said.

“We are excited to add it to OpenSports and continue building on our sports betting technology to bring bettors a well-rounded and content-packed experience.”

Customers will have access to shot-by-shot data, live streaming and interactive course visualisations from both the PGA Tour and European Tour via the Golf Event Centre.

“The Golf Event Centre brings a new level of immersion and engagement that will positively shake up the live betting experience and the industry as a whole,” SG Digital’s senior vice president sportsbook, Keith O’Loughlin, said.

SG Digital aims to make the golf coverage available to its OpenSports clients from January 2020.

The supplier has also signed up to IMG Arena's Alliance programme, which provides customers access to a range of official data and live streaming services.

“Incorporating our official content within the OpenSports ecosystem will provide many of our major UK, European and US sportsbook customers with seamless access to our full suite of products, including the Golf Event Centre,” IMG Arena senior vice president Freddie Longe commented.

“With its unique set of interactive features, we believe it will quickly become an indispensable part of the global sports betting ecosystem.”

The new agreement comes after IMG Arena this month expanded its scoring data partnership with the PGA Tour to the North American market. IMG Arena is now able to distribute data from the PGA Tour to North America-based operators for media and betting purposes.