University of Alabama director of athletics Greg Byrne has fired head baseball coach Brad Bohannon five days after a betting oversight organization reported "suspicious" wagering activity involving a game against LSU last week.
Alabama sophomore Luke Holman had been scheduled to start vs. LSU but was scratched last minute with a back injury. Holman leads Alabama starters in strikeouts, wins and ERA. Reliever Hagan Banks was told “an hour before” first pitch that he would be starting.
After the game, U.S. Integrity — an independent firm focused on monitoring insider information and referee compliance in betting markets — reported to its partner sportsbooks the peculiar betting activity.
The chairman of the Louisiana Gaming Control Board, Ronnie Johns, said there were two suspicious bets — one a parlay and the other a moneyline wager. The bets took place at the BetMGM Sportsbook at the Great American Ball Park, the home of the Cincinnati Reds.
The person who placed the bets was speaking to Bohannon while the bets were being placed, ESPN reported.
LSU won the game as big favorites by a score of 8-6. The Tigers closed at -245 on the moneyline. LSU had been up 8-1 through seven innings and quelled five unanswered Alabama runs en route to the victory.
As a result of U.S. Integrity's report, Ohio halted all wagers on Alabama baseball indefinitely. Seventeen sportsbooks in the state can no longer host bets on the team: Barstool, bet365, Betfred, BetJACK, BetMGM, BetParx, BetRivers, Caesars, DraftKings, FanDuel, HardRock, PointsBet, SuperBook and Tipico. Those sportsbooks are still permitted to host wagers in other states where betting on college baseball is permitted.
A source at a major American sportsbook told Action Network that it’s not clear if anything was truly amiss with the wagers.
Placing wagers on insider information is par for the course in sports betting — unlike in financial markets, where that behavior is regulated by the SEC. But, if the athletes, coaches or referees in the game were involved in leaking the information, the results may be punitive.
