Ohio gaming regulators are taking steps to ban a former College of Alabama baseball coach from the state’s sportsbooks within the wake of allegations that he shared inside info with an affiliate who tried to put a big wager towards the crew.
Former Alabama Baseball Coach Brad Bohannon can be excluded from sportsbooks in Ohio, pending attraction. Gaming regulators say the ban is important within the wake of an information-sharing scandal.
The Ohio On line casino Management Fee this week despatched letters to former coach Brad Bohannon and Indiana businessman Bert Neff II informing them that they’re going to be positioned on the Sports activities Gaming Involuntary Exclusion Listing.
‘A Menace to the Pursuits of the State’
The fee’s letters recount allegations that Bohannon gave Neff nonpublic details about an Alabama baseball sport, and that Neff tried to put bets primarily based on that info.
“Your presence in a sports activities gaming facility or participation within the play of sports activities gaming poses a menace to the pursuits of the state,” OCCC Government Director Matthew T. Schuler wrote in separate letters to the 2 males, dated November 14.
The letters cite an April 28, 2023 incident involving the College of Alabama baseball crew, during which Bohannon, then the crew’s head coach, “shared info not accessible to most of the people … for the aim of collaborating in sports activities gaming.”
Bohannon allegedly informed Neff that Alabama’s star pitcher, Luke Holman, wouldn’t begin that day’s sport towards Louisiana State College, in keeping with earlier press experiences.
Earlier than that info grew to become public, Neff tried to wager greater than $100K that the Crimson Tide would fall to the Tigers, in keeping with earlier experiences. Employees on the sportsbook in Cincinnati’s Nice American Ballpark had been suspicious of Neff’s hefty wager on a sport that in any other case had drawn little curiosity that day, and Neff allegedly implied that he had acquired an insider tip on the sport.
Neff, a youth baseball coach from Mooresville, Ind., was allegedly texting with by way of the messaging app Sign whereas he was standing on the sportsbook window in April. His son is a pitcher on the College of Cincinnati however wasn’t believed to be concerned within the alleged scheme, in keeping with press experiences. Two different members of the UC baseball workers had been fired in Might, allegedly for being conscious of it.
Attraction Doable
The Ohio ban isn’t but in impact, and the 2 males may have a chance to attraction the choice and plead their case earlier than the fee, if they need. An attraction should be filed inside 30 days.
“The Fee has initiated the method of including Brad Bohannon and Bert Neff, Jr. to Ohio’s Sports activities Gaming Involuntary Exclusion Listing, as their presence and/or participation in sports activities gaming poses a menace to the pursuits of the state and the efficient regulation of sports activities gaming,” Schuler stated in an announcement this week. “Bohannon and Neff are entitled to due course of, together with a listening to in the event that they select, and any ultimate motion pertaining to the Sports activities Gaming Involuntary Exclusion Listing will happen at a public Fee Assembly.”
The fee halted betting on Alabama baseball within the fast wake of the scandal, however that order expired Wednesday, ESPN reported.
Bohannon was fired from the College of Alabama in Might of this 12 months.
