A suspicious sports bet was placed in Ohio, and a college coach in Alabama got fired
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- A bet placed in Ohio led to the firing of a college baseball coach on Thursday.
The firing of Alabama baseball coach Brad Bohannon was announced by Alabama athletic director Greg Byrne for “among other things, violating the standards, duties, and responsibilities expected of university employees.”
The suspicious bet that started the process was placed in person on Friday at the BetMGM Sportsbook at the Great American Ballpark in Cincinnati, according to the Ohio Casino Control Commission. According to a report from ESPN, sportsbook surveillance allegedly shows the person making the bet communicating with Bohannon.
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The Southeastern Conference responded with its own announcement Thursday, acknowledging the connection between the news on Monday that Ohio had halted all belting on Alabama baseball games and the dismissal of Bohannon.
“We are aware of reports related to the suspension of wagering on Alabama baseball games,” SEC commissioner Greg Sankey said in the statement. “As many states have acted to legalize sports gambling, we are reminded of the threats gambling may pose to competitive integrity. Together with our member universities, we will continue to emphasize the importance of regulating, overseeing, and providing education related to sports gambling activity.”
Thirty-three states have legalized sports gambling in some form. Alabama does not.
In the Friday game, Alabama scratched expected starting pitcher Luke Holman, who has an ERA of 2.39 this season, and replaced him with Hagan Banks, who was making just his second start of the season. Banks allowed four runs in three innings, and Alabama lost to LSU 8-6.
“Hagan Banks did a good job, especially for finding out an hour before the game that he was going to start,” Bohannon was quoted as saying on the Alabama team website after the game.
The chairman of the Louisiana Gaming Control Board told NOLA.com that he was informed that a large bet was placed on Alabama-LSU.
The Ohio Casino Control Commission partners with two companies known as independent integrity monitors to watch betting activity: U.S. Integrity and the International Betting Integrity Association. According to ESPN, it was U.S. Integrity that flagged the bet. Several other states followed Ohio in stopping any betting on Alabama baseball.
Casino control commission spokesperson Jessica Franks said this was the first time since Ohio sports betting was legalized on Jan. 1 that betting had been halted because of a suspected issue.
Franks said the commission is still looking into the issue and noted that “the commission is a law enforcement agency. We do have broad investigatory powers. And we do have a lot of both civil and criminal tools at our disposal.”
