UFC, PGA Tour events produce big betting handles
UFC led the way in weekend betting handle at the Westgate and William Hill sportsbooks. But the PGA Tour was tops at DraftKings, which took a record golf handle on the Charles Schwab Challenge.
“That was our biggest handle ever for a golf event when it was only halfway through round one,” DraftKings sportsbook director Johnny Avello said. “Golf has been doing gangbusters for us. It blew by all the (2019) majors.”
William Hill sportsbook director Nick Bogdanovich said the tournament at Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, Texas, generated five or six times more money in bets than the event did last year. But it still finished third in weekend handle at the book.
“UFC was No. 1, (Russian) ping-pong was 2 and golf was 3,” he said.
The Westgate took five times as much money on UFC than it did on golf, vice president of risk Jeff Sherman said.
“The UFC continues to carry us,” he said. “The UFC is really, really popular. It is even when all sports are going on.”
Avello said the UFC also has been popular at DraftKings, which has an office at Town Square but doesn’t yet operate a book in Nevada.
“When the UFC arranged its first match back in May, we did record numbers, and it’s still really good,” Avello said. “We’re hoping it can hold up when everything else comes back.”
Contact reporter Todd Dewey at tdewey@reviewjournal.com. Follow @tdewey33 on Twitter.