PGA TOUR inks two new integrity-oriented agreements with U.S. Integrity and Genius Sports

The PGA TOUR announced last week two new agreements that will enhance monitoring capabilities as part of an expanded PGA TOUR Integrity Program. A new partnership with U.S. Integrity, paired with an extension of the TOUR’s existing relationship with Genius Sports, will provide the organization with these monitoring services through 2024. 

U.S. Integrity CEO and Co-Founder Matthew Holt said: “U.S. Integrity is proud to partner with the PGA TOUR and assist with maintaining the integrity of its golf competition across the world. U.S. Integrity’s mission is to provide conflict-free, best-in-class insights and compliance solutions to our clients. We are looking forward to working with the premier golf tour in the world, featuring the biggest names."

“All our partners are committed to the highest integrity standards, and they are no exception. These types of partnerships help ensure sports betting integrity and strengthen the unique and proprietary anomaly-detection tools we have developed at U.S. Integrity,” he added. 

The PGA TOUR Integrity Program, established on January 1, 2018, covers all facets of competition and operations on the tours overseen by the PGA TOUR, including players and their support teams, all tournament staff and volunteers, all PGA TOUR employees and the PGA TOUR Policy Board.

PGA TOUR Vice President of Gaming Scott Warfield said: “We are excited to partner with U.S. Integrity, as we look to continue ensuring the integrity of the PGA TOUR. U.S. Integrity along with Genius Sports’ commitment to protecting our sport, as well as their proactive approach, will play a pivotal role in assisting our operations with monitoring sports betting across our Tours.”

In addition to a continuation of the TOUR’s longstanding partnership with Genius Sports, U.S. Integrity will provide supplementary integrity-monitoring services via its proprietary dashboard, in an effort to proactively identify irregular contest-level, officiating and wagering patterns by conducting analysis across many data sets.

Stephen Thurley, Head of Integrity Partnerships at Genius Sports, commented: “We are delighted to extend our historic partnership with the PGA TOUR. As the sports betting landscape rapidly evolves across the U.S., it is imperative that sports are proactive in protecting the integrity of their competitions.”

“This partnership ensures the PGA TOUR continues to benefit from Genius Sports’ Bet Monitoring technology and Education services, as well as utilizing ‘Genius Intelligence,’ our groundbreaking fraud detection management system,” he added.

The TOUR will continue to work with Genius Sports to facilitate tailored educational programs for players, caddies and officials, said PGA. Educational workshops reinforce the PGA TOUR’s regulations and highlight the risks associated with betting-related corruption, it noted. Additionally, custom-made e-learning modules are available on a worldwide basis to all PGA TOUR players in multiple languages. 

According to PGA TOUR, the Integrity Program’s stated mission is: “To maintain integrity and prevent and mitigate betting-related corruption in PGA TOUR competitions – ensuring competitions always reflect, and appear to reflect, the best efforts of the players, while protecting the welfare of the players and others involved with the PGA TOUR – through clear policies and regulations, ongoing education and training, and effective and consistent monitoring and enforcement functions.”   

The TOUR is a platinum member of the National Council on Problem Gambling and is aligned with the American Gaming Association (AGA) as a Have A Game Plan. Bet Responsibly public service campaign partner to educate golf fans on responsible sports betting.