Sports wagering experts' concerns become reality with Alabama betting probe

On the same day leading sports wagering experts sounded the alarm about the virtual inevitability of a betting scandal soon erupting on a college campus, their concerns became a reality.

Last Friday, the same day that LEAD1 Association conducted a webinar on sports gambling concerns, Las Vegas-based gambling integrity firm U.S. Integrity detected suspicious wagers on that day’s Alabama–LSU baseball game, which the Tigers won, 8-6. That alert prompted the Ohio Casino Control Commission to suspend betting on Alabama baseball games at the state’s legal sports books, ESPN reported Monday night.

Then on Thursday Alabama announced the firing of baseball coach Brad Bohannon for, “among other things, violating the standards, duties, and responsibilities expected of university employees.”

It’s still a bit murky how, if at all, Bohannon’s firing is linked to the suspicious betting activity.

However, NCAA baseball expert Kendall Rogers of D1 Baseball, reported Thursday that no players are thought to be involved in this and that the investigation is focused on Bohannon. The Athletic’s David Ubben and Andy Staples also reported that Bohannon was found to be connected with betting activity in Ohio concerning the game.

What is clear is that some of the nation’s leading gambling experts saw a college sports betting scandal as imminent.

Three experts said during Friday’s webinar that there was a 100% probability of a sports betting scandal unfolding on a campus within the next three years. Keith Whyte, executive director at the National Council of Problem Gambling, went further, saying “it’s already happening. We just don’t know it.”

And now it is here.

In an email to On3 on Thursday, Whyte did not address the Alabama developments specifically but said, “The intersection or collision of sports betting with college athletics poses great risks to the integrity of the game and to the mental health of college players and personnel.”

Later, Whyte added that fixing games or plays “isn’t just a problem for players. Personnel—coaches, trainers, refs, etc., many of them have all the same risk factors as players: male, extremely competitive, frequent gambling participation, belief in [their] own skill, deep knowledge of sports—and are likely also at higher risk for problems. Basically, almost all the traits that help a manager succeed also make them a risky gambler.

“While Pete Rose didn’t bet on the [Cincinnati] Reds to lose, he likely made choices about players and plays that were more about winning his bet than what was in the best interest of the team.”

Since 2018, more than 30 states have legalized sports gambling, a handful of colleges have secured partnerships with sports books and student-athletes have increasingly been inundated with sports wagering commercials and promotions.

‘I almost don’t want to know’

Tom McMillen, CEO of LEAD1, which advocates on policy issues for all FBS schools, told On3 in March that sports wagering represented his No. 1 concern in all of college sports because it was existential and the ramifications could be “catastrophic.”

In a recent conversation with one athletic director, McMillen asked, “How many of your student-athletes have bet on games?” The athletic director said, “I don’t know. I have no idea. I almost don’t want to know.”

When asked Thursday for his reaction to the Alabama news, McMillen told On3 in an email: “Not a surprise. More to come, for sure.”

McMillen and Michelle Malkin, an assistant professor at East Carolina and a nationally recognized expert on problem gambling, have both called for the NCAA to conduct a new, comprehensive national study on the gambling habits of student-athletes. The NCAA has not conducted a national study on the issue since 2003. An NCAA spokesperson told On3 that it is currently conducting a general survey of the gambling habits of all college-aged students, not specifically athletes.

Plus, new NCAA President Charlie Baker said during LEAD1’s recent spring meetings that this fall the association will “do something that is much more particular and specific to student-athletes.”

When asked for her reaction Thursday to the Alabama developments, Malkin said in an email: “I’m not surprised at all because I know it has to be happening. I don’t know the details enough yet to talk specifics, but when it comes to gambling, especially if someone has developed gambling disorder, they can no longer rationally limit what they will do for the next win. That said, I do not know enough about the coach to know his history of gambling.”

Suspicious bets involved a parlay, ‘large’ money line bet

Ronnie Johns, chairman of the Louisiana Gaming Control Board, said the state received an alert of suspicious betting activity regarding the game on Friday night, according to NOLA.com. Johns told the newspaper that “there were a couple of bets made in Cincinnati,” including a parlay that involved the LSU-Alabama game and another money line “large bet.” 

The bets that raised alarms were placed Friday at the BetMGM sports book at Great American Ballpark in Cincinnati, ESPN reported. 

FanDuel told Sports Handle on Monday that it was not going to allow wagers on games involving Alabama’s baseball team until further notice. BetMGM, Caesars Sportsbook and DraftKings are among the sportsbooks without odds on the program included in their respective futures markets.

“We are aware of reports related to the suspension of wagering on Alabama baseball games,” SEC commissioner Greg Sankey said in a statement. “We will continue to monitor available information and any regulatory activity.

“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.”

Alabama situation proves concern was valid

Sports wagering experts lament that it has been difficult to get universities to adopt necessary policies and educational measures related to gambling in part because of budgetary restraints.

Matt Holt, president and founder of U.S. Integrity, which customizes sports-integrity solutions for conferences, universities and professional leagues, said last Friday his group has, however, seen great adoption at the conference level. There, he said, officials are engaged, understand the risks and want to be proactive.

He added a word of caution about some of those at the university level, saying, “I can’t tell you how many times we’ve talked about the importance of them understanding when their athletes are under investigation and there’s abnormal activity around their events, and they say, ‘Boy, I don’t think we want to know this information. If we don’t know, we don’t have to react,’” Holt said.

“Those days are gone. The media knows, the betting community knows, regulators know that action has to be taken, wagers have to be voided, investigations have to take place. That old-school rhetoric of ‘Let’s bury our head in the sand, and if we’re not notified, we don’t have to do anything’ is just as dangerous as the lack of policies and procedures across the country.”

Gambling experts have said a college betting scandal would soon be upon us, if it wasn’t already here. With suspicious betting activity surrounding Alabama baseball, they have been proven correct. Now the issue has the attention of the entire college athletics world.

Mark Potter, head of delivery at Epic Risk Management, which works closely with the NCAA on educational programs related to problem gambling, said Friday, “I fear that it will take something like this, a major scandal, for some people in some organizations to really take notice of how serious this is.”