MLB Legend Pete Rose Warned Alabama Players About Illegal Betting

Peter Lewisby Peter Lewis
Updated: August 25, 2023
MLB Legend Pete Rose Warned Alabama Players About Illegal Betting

When it comes to Alabama sports betting news, it has made clear that local politicians are in no rush to make things happen. This isn’t much of a surprise, as Alabama is a very conservative state. However, a growing problem for Alabama has been illegal sports betting taking place on a consistent basis. Not only that, but the college game has been at center stage for this. Because of this, recently, MLB legend Pete Rose warned Alabama players about illegal betting and it has countless folks talking.

In case you don’t know Rose’s history, he was actually banned by Major League Baseball for betting on games. This ban hasn’t been lifted, and it’s keeping him out of the Hall of Fame. Rose is widely considered one of the best hitters of all time. However, his betting issues hang over his head and it’s the reason that he’s not enshrined forever in Cooperstown. If anyone knows about betting mistakes, it’s Rose, which is why he spoke with Nick Saban and his football players/coaches.

“You guys know what the issues are,” Saban said on the challenges facing college football. “If you look at the players that are suspended for whether it’s gambling, drugs and alcohol, whatever. So those are all things that we’re trying to educate our players on relative to consequences of good and bad behavior, cause and effect, because we don’t want anybody to suffer negative consequences that might impact and affect their brand.”

From the moment Rose visited Tuscaloosa earlier this month, it has brought the sports betting debate back to the forefront for people to discuss. On one side of things, people against Alabama betting are using Rose as an example of why it shouldn’t be allowed. On the other side of things, though, folks are hoping that Rose’s appearance can help promote responsible, legal betting too.

Nothing has changed with the Alabama sports betting efforts

In disappointing news for proponents, nothing has changed with the Alabama sports betting efforts. There was some buzz around a sports betting measure earlier this year, but nothing came of it. With that, legal sports betting won’t be coming this year and the expectation is that things won’t get done until at least 2025. This is a major disappointment, as people don’t want to have to wait this long.

Whenever it seems like there might be some promise for things to move forward, three steps are taken back. The fact of the matter, however, is that illegal activity still has a big-time presence in the state. This is something that Saban knows too well, which is why he wanted to bring in someone like Rose to speak to his players. College athletes are always being pushed to either place bets or accept money in an illegal fashion.

With Alabama, they’re always going to hold strong NCAAF betting odds. The Crimson Tide are known for signing plenty of 5-star players each season. A lot of those players go on to play in the NFL. Take a look at quarterback Bryce Young for example. He was the top-rated quarterback coming out of high school and he signed with the Tide. After a tremendous career with the team, he was the No. 1 overall pick in this past spring’s NFL Draft.

With so much talent from Alabama moving on to the league too, it only makes sense that people are going to want to check the NFL betting odds and then place bets on the program’s alums. However, this activity remains illegal in Alabama. College players and fans are always looking to place wagers on games, which is why Saban wanted to remind his guys of the consequences. It’s up in the air when good news on things being legalized will arrive, but it’s not expected soon.

Alabama sports betting has massive potential if it ever arrives

One of the major reasons people are so frustrated with how everything has panned out is because Alabama sports betting has massive potential if it ever arrives. This time of the year specifically, college football is king in the area and people would love to put money down. As popular as Alabama and Nick Saban are, Auburn is another SEC powerhouse and they have a huge following across the world.

Speaking of the SEC, as soon as the heart of the conference schedule arrives this fall, people in the south are going to be racing to check the odds for those squads. There’s going to be a high number of betting, especially in the nearby states where things have been made legal. This only adds to the anger of people all over Alabama.

People in office continue to lower hope with all the delays that have arrived. Just like in California and Texas, there seems to be plenty of support for legal sports betting, but officials are the main ones preventing things from moving forward. The longer this keeps being the case, the more revenue the state will be missing out on.

Peter Lewis

Peter Lewis Jr. comes from Mississippi where he and his family spend their days discussing college football, baseball and basketball. He's written sports journalism for years after studying journalism at a local university. Over time, Peter has cultivated extensive knowledge covering sports betting legislation across the country. He closely tracks the latest regulatory developments and provides key insights into their impacts. Peter also offers sharp MLB betting analysis, leveraging stats and trends to identify value on matchups.

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