LIV Signs Prediction-Market Deal As PGA Tour Has Held Off

LIV Golf has a prediction-market partner, and it’s not Kalshi or Polymarket.

The Saudi-backed golf venture is the latest pro sports league to get in on prediction markets through a short-term deal with Novig that will span this week’s Masters Tournament, being held Thursday through Sunday.

Although the two sides have been in contact for some time, this specific opportunity only emerged recently, according to Novig SVP of growth Nikhil Panu. He says Novig has been exploring potential opportunities with various organizations “across the sports ecosystem.”

“This stood out to us in a very unique way,” Panu tells Front Office Sports. “It’s an opportunity to activate at one of the most prestigious and biggest events in golf.”

Under the agreement, seven LIV golfers will have Novig branding on their sleeves during the Masters. The golfers are 4Aces captain Dustin Johnson, Fireballs captain Sergio Garcia, Legion XIII captain Jon Rahm, and Ripper captain Cameron Smith, as well as Tom McKibbin of Legion XIII and Charl Schwartzel of Southern Guards. 

Bryson DeChambeau, who is in the final year of his LIV contract and is among the betting favorites to win the Masters, is not part of the Novig deal. In January, DeChambeau signed a landmark endorsement deal with Kalshi.

In addition to the sleeves, the agreement includes “broader integration across LIV Golf’s social ecosystem,” according to the press release, such as social media content. Novig will also feature custom markets specific to the tournament, such as whether there will be a hole-in-one, top players vs. the field, how many LIV golfers will make the cut, and more, according to Panu.

Further, Novig will debut a contest with a 500,000 “Novig Cash” prize pool, under which users can bet once per day on who will win the tournament. Multiple traders will get a share of that prize pool, and one participant will be awarded a blue blazer—similar to the green jacket the winner of the Masters gets. Novig runs a peer-to-peer platform that, for now, uses Novig coins or Novig cash (coins are unredeemable and used for wagering, while cash can be redeemed for “monetary prizes”). 

The company, which has raised more than $105 million from investors since its 2021 founding, applied in January with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission—the federal regulator that oversees prediction markets—to operate a federally regulated exchange. If they receive approval, they intend to begin having traders use dollars. A free option using Novig coins may still remain, although that decision hasn’t been made yet, Panu says.

The agreement with LIV is specifically tied to this week’s Masters tournament, but Novig and LIV have a “very good relationship,” Panu tells FOS.

“We’re excited to explore future opportunities with them and other properties in the sports world,” he says.

Representatives for LIV did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The PGA Tour Remains Out on Prediction Markets For Now

The PGA Tour is in no rush to join LIV in the world of prediction markets. Last month, its VP of gaming, Scott Warfield, said “it’s complicated,” and that while sports betting was inevitable, “I don’t think we necessarily believe prediction markets are going to happen either way—yet.” 

“We’re currently on the sidelines, learning, but have not pursued active commercial deals on the prediction market side,” Warfield said, pointing to integrity concerns over potentially nefarious trading activity.

In January, after DeChambeau’s Kalshi deal was announced a Tour spokesperson told FOS prediction markets were “currently…not an approved category.” 

Representatives for the Tour did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

A Changing Landscape

One by one, major sports leagues have given into the rise of prediction markets. First, the NHL announced partnerships with both Kalshi and Polymarket. Polymarket then landed deals with UFC, MLS, and LaLiga. In March, the platform reached its most significant agreement to date, a deal with MLB that sources tell FOS is worth up to $300 million over as many as four years.

The NBA and NFL remain holdouts, although the NFL has signaled it could be open to partnering with a platform if certain regulatory questions are resolved. During February’s NBA All-Star weekend, commissioner Adam Silver said the league views prediction markets the same way it views sports betting. “Whether prediction markets are allowed to go forward in the form they’re in now will, I think, be ultimately an issue for the courts and for Congress,” Silver said.