Ohio bans former Alabama baseball coach from sports betting
Ohio gambling regulators are taking steps to ban a former University of Alabama baseball coach from sports betting in the state. It follows accusations that he passed on inside information to an employee who was trying to place a big bet on the team.
This week, the Ohio Casino Control Commission sent letters to former coach Brad Bohannon and Indiana businessman Bert Neff II. In the note, they were informed that they would be placed on the involuntary exclusion list for athletic competition.
The committee letter recounts allegations that Bohannon provided Neff with nonpublic information about Alabama baseball games and Neff attempted to place bets based on that information.
“Your presence at a sports betting facility or participation in sports betting poses a threat to the national interest,” OCCC Executive Director Matthew T. Schuler wrote in separate letters to both men on Nov. 14.
The letters reference an April 28, 2023, incident involving the University of Alabama baseball team. Bohannon, then the team's head coach, "disclosed information that was not publicly known for the purpose of engaging in sports betting."
"Threat to national interests"
According to previous media reports, Bohannon told Neff that Alabama's star pitcher Luke Holman would not start that day against LSU.
Before that information was released, Neff attempted to bet more than $100,000 that the Crimson Tide would fall to the Tigers, according to previous reports. Staff at Cincinnati's Great American Ballpark sportsbook were skeptical of Neff's big bet on the game, which had generated little interest that day. Neff allegedly said he received inside information about the game.
Neff, a youth baseball coach from Mooresville, Indiana, allegedly stood in front of a sportsbook window in April and texted with Bohannon through the messaging app Signal. His son, a pitcher at the University of Cincinnati, is not believed to be involved in the alleged scheme, according to media reports. Two other members of the Cal baseball team were fired in May, allegedly because of their knowledge.
You can raise objections
Ohio's ban has not yet taken effect, and the two will have the opportunity to appeal the decision and present their case to the commission if they wish. The appeal must be filed within 30 days.
"The Commission has initiated the process of adding Brad Bohannon and Bert Neff Jr. to Ohio's involuntary sports betting exclusion list due to their The existence and/or participation in sports betting poses a threat to the state’s interests and the effective regulation of sports betting,” it said in a statement this week. "Bohannon and Neff are entitled to due process, including a hearing if they so choose, and any final action related to the involuntary athletic exclusion list will be taken at a public committee meeting."
After the scandal, the committee immediately stopped betting on Alabama baseball. But that order expired Wednesday, ESPN reported.
In May of this year, Bohannon was fired from the University of Alabama.
Read also:
- Football 101: What is relegation in football?
- Vegas restaurant roundup: 3 Caesars Palace restaurants crack OpenTable top 100
- Myanmar junta hands over triad casino 'warlords' to China
- Las Vegas myth fixed: casinos injected with extra oxygen
Source: www.casino.org
