Alabama case offers another lesson as sports betting grows

Alabama is shooting baseball coach Brad Bohannon after a report of suspicious bets including his group, with the school stating he broke & #x 201c; the responsibilities, requirements and responsibilities anticipated of university workers. & #x 201d; The firing revealed Thursday, May 4, came three days after a report caution of suspicious wagers prompted Ohio & #x 2019; s top gambling regulator to bar licensed sportsbooks in the state from accepting bets on Alabama baseball video games.
It's not a surprise to those who have been following sports betting for several years that regulation normally works and is the very best way to guarantee the stability of the video game.

That was seen in action with the Alabama baseball case this week.

Suspicious activity was discovered in an Ohio sportsbook at Great American Ballpark in Cincinnati, where an unknown gambler positioned what was called a "big" wager versus the Crimson Tide, who then announced their ace pitcher would be scratched from his start against top-ranked Louisiana State.

Further investigation exposed the bettor touched with Alabama coach Brad Bohannon around the time he positioned the wager. It stays to be seen how that information was acquired, however do not eliminate the possibility that cams were merely able to focus on the screen of the wagerer's mobile phone to establish who was on the other end of the discussion.

Bohannon was immediately fired, and numerous states have removed Alabama video games from the betting menu.

This is part of the factor widespread legalization of sports wagering was very important and had been supported for so long by those who truly comprehended business.

It was still going on everywhere when legal betting was basically limited to Nevada. Wagers like this were happening all the time, from the backrooms of drab bars to the patios of the regional cafe, far from the eyes of regulators.

Legalization works. These are the triumphes all of us predicted for years.

It does produce new concerns.

Not so cut and dried.

Would the Alabama case have even occurred had sports wagering not end up being so widespread? It's impossible to say.

If Bohannon even benefited, it's not entirely clear. There is a possibility he was just telling a good friend, who is supposedly a former high school baseball coach, about a choice to scratch his starting pitcher prior to the details was openly available and the buddy just individually chosen to go to the window with the pointer.

Highly unlikely, however possible. As so many more individuals are exposed to sports betting, the temptation is there for numerous who might never have actually been comfortable seeking out a bookmaker on the black market.

It's also developing rather an issue for sports leagues. In this case, it was really cut and dried. Alabama made the simple and correct decision to act rapidly in firing Bohannon.

But some problems aren't so clear, and leagues will have some much more hard calls to make.

Of the four significant sports, the NHL rule is the clearest: "Gambling on any NHL video game is prohibited.".

Simple and apparent. Major League Baseball and the NBA have more phrasing to their policies, but the idea is comparable: Don't bet on league video games.

The NFL is where some work might still need to be done. Group workers have more stringent guidelines than the gamers, including a restriction on essentially all sports betting.

Staffers and gamers are prohibited from sports banking on apps inside the team center, which is probably the best call. There is also a restriction on entering a sportsbook at all during a season or preserving even a social relationship with a "sports gambler.".

Define ‘‘ sports bettor'.

To the first point, what is the definition of a sportsbook? As expansion continues, it appears every restaurant or bar in some of the recently regulated states has wagering windows. That will be tough to impose and monitor.

Not as tough as the 2nd part.

Who isn't betting on sports nowadays? In the days before widespread guideline, the term "sports gambler" typically referred to the shadowy figures on the fringe of society engaged in such salacious activities as placing a three-team teaser on a Sunday. (Oh, the scary.).

Today it's in fact more difficult to discover individuals who do not bet on sports. Who is monitoring this ban on personal relationships with sports bettors and who is even defining the term?

It's just a reminder that as huge as this area has actually grown, there is still a whole lot to figure out.

One certainty is that college coaches shouldn't be on the phone with a person at the window ready to make a wager on a decision that hasn't been announced openly.

Or, if they do, they ought to have the individual change the name on the contact so it's not as easy to spot.

Contact Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AdamHillLVRJ on Twitter.