Golfers hope real-time betting won't affect play
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SCOTTSDALE • Players at this week's Phoenix Open in Scottsdale, Arizona are interested to see if there is an on-course impact with American broadcaster NBC debuting a live second-screen experience.
The NBC Sports Edge BetCast is the first live betting companion show at a golf event.
A collaboration between NBC Sports, the PGA Tour and online sports bookmaker PointsBet, the simulcast will provide 21/2 hours of daily coverage on the Peacock Premium streaming service focused on tournament odds and betting information.
The broadcast will take place from a Golf Channel Live studio set overlooking the famous par-three 16th hole at TPC Scottsdale.
Commentators Steve Burkowski and George Savaricas will be joined by PointsBet senior editor Teddy Greenstein, a former writer for the Chicago Tribune.
The trio will focus on a featured group while also highlighting other action from the tournament. PointsBet head trader Jay Croucher will contribute from the company's Denver headquarters.
The bookmaker is touting more than 500 "bet types" for the Phoenix Open, with the BetCast crew discussing the probability of specific scores and shots throughout the tournament and how players' odds change during the event.
Defending Phoenix Open champion Webb Simpson, who admitted he is not "well-versed" in the sports betting area or the PGA Tour's plans around it, said the only concern he has heard is the potential distraction fans gambling on the event may create.
"Hopefully, the PGA Tour has a very strict plan on that kind of banter from spectators to players. That's obviously something we've never dealt with. That's just one potential problem I see."
World No. 3 Justin Thomas, who has had consecutive third-place finishes at TPC Scottsdale, agreed.
"Selfishly, I worry about any sort of sketchiness going on with whether it's communication with someone that's out on the grounds and could potentially yell or do something to affect a person that would have, say, a wager or something and that's a serious, serious concern," he said. "I would hope it would never come to that."
But he acknowledged that live gambling "seems to be the way" and it is a reality that Tour professionals are going to have to become accustomed to.
REUTERS
