Alabama Fires Head Baseball Coach Amid Betting Controversy

The University of Alabama has fired head baseball coach Brad Bohannon, the school announced Thursday. His dismissal comes following suspicious wagering activity on the team’s 8-6 loss to No. 1 LSU on April 28. 

“Alabama director of athletics Greg Byrne announced he has initiated the termination process for head baseball coach Brad Bohannon for, among other things, violating the standards, duties, and responsibilities expected of university employees,” the university said in a statement. “Bohannon has been relieved of all duties and Jason Jackson will serve as the interim head coach. There will be no further comment at this time pending an ongoing review.”

The suspicious wagering activity took place in the BetMGM Sportsbook at the Great American Ballpark, home of the Cincinnati Reds, according to NOLA.com. Soon after, the Ohio Casino Control Commission told sportsbooks in Ohio to stop accepting bets on Alabama baseball games until further notice. The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board has also instructed sportsbook operators in the state not to accept wagers on the team until further notice, the PGCB shared with Sports Handle on Thursday.

No additional detail has been provided about the suspicious wagering activity. Some fans speculated it could have had to do with Alabama’s projected starting pitcher being scratched just an hour before the first pitch, but theories related to the late pitching change have not been confirmed. LSU was a -245 moneyline favorite, and the top-ranked Tigers would have been favored with or without the pitching change. Most mobile sportsbooks in the U.S. only offer moneyline wagers on college baseball games, in addition to national championship futures. 

ESPN reported that New Jersey regulators also instructed sportsbooks in the state to not accept bets on Alabama baseball for the time being. That means operators in at least three states have stopped taking bets on Alabama baseball. 

As of Wednesday evening, Louisiana was still allowing wagers on Alabama’s games. 

“As of this time, we are still accepting bets on Alabama baseball, but we are monitoring the issue closely and should we deem it necessary, we would take similar action,” Ronnie Johns, the chairman of the Louisiana Gaming Control Board, told Sports Handle. “The important thing for us in Louisiana now is that LSU baseball is absolutely not implicated in the suspicious betting issue. That has been confirmed.”  

Sportsbooks remove Alabama markets

While some states (Arizona, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, and Tennessee, among others) are still allowing bets on Alabama baseball, that doesn’t matter much if the legal sportsbooks available in the state aren’t taking wagers on the team. 

FanDuel told Sports Handle on Monday that it was not going to allow wagers on games involving Alabama’s baseball team until further notice. The Crimson Tide, a projected NCAA Tournament team, aren’t available in the sportsbook’s futures market to win the College World Series.

The same is true at BetRivers, which had futures odds available on Wednesday. By Thursday morning, those odds were gone, and a company spokesperson confirmed with Sports Handle that Alabama baseball betting markets are currently unavailable. 

So this Alabama baseball sports betting story just got a lot bigger with this news https://t.co/PSpMUaACuM

— Todd Fuhrman (@ToddFuhrman) May 4, 2023

Other major mobile operators also aren’t accepting wagers on the program, it appears. BetMGM, Caesars Sportsbook, and DraftKings are among the sportsbooks without odds on the program included in their respective futures markets. Requests for comment to those three operators went unreturned. 

Barstool Sportsbook had Alabama futures odds available Wednesday evening, but they were removed by Thursday morning. DraftKings has moneyline wagers available for a few Thursday games across the country, but Alabama’s home matchup with SEC foe Vanderbilt is not among those. 

“We are aware of reports related to the suspension of wagering Alabama baseball games,” SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey said in a statement Wednesday night. “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 on 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.”

Interestingly, bet365 still has Alabama (+15000) included in its national championship futures market.