The NCAA’s Sorsby’s Scandal Shines Light on Problem Gambling

NCAA football is facing its first major betting scandal, but there is far more to the story than the captivating headlines may indicate.

New Texas Tech quarterback Brendan Sorsby, the top transfer prospect during the offseason, announced that he has entered a gambling treatment program. The move comes as the NCAA is investigating the former Cincinnati star over allegations that he’s betting on sports.

While the now disgraced college star is responsible for his own decisions, reports suggest he may have been another victim of America’s problem gambling epidemic.

Putting Sorsby’s story in perspective

Identifying this story as another promising athlete squandering his gift is a massive mistake. 

First of all, it's incredibly important to note that, of the thousands of bets the quarterback made, none involved games he played in. He also isn’t connected to any organized crime or other rings of athletes looking to fix bets. That means he was betting for the thrill, and likely figured the activity wasn’t hurting anyone.

It’s also crucial to remember that the NCAA is accusing him of placing thousands of bets since he was 18. That is a massive red flag for addiction, especially given his young age and influx of money from NIL deals.

Yes, Sorsby chose to violate NCAA rules. However, we shouldn’t let that mask the tragic story of a young man’s addiction to a growingly controversial industry.

Sportsbooks could face lawsuits over scandal

A few years ago, a former employee of the Jacksonville Jaguars was arrested for stealing money from the team to fund his gambling habit. The illegal activity and poor public perception led many to ignore the accused’s accusations against the sports betting industry. However, it didn’t stop him from filing a lawsuit against FanDuel Sportsbook.

In the lawsuit, it came out that the employee was receiving excessive communication from FanDuel, including from his personal VIP host. He sometimes faced up to a hundred messages in a single day, all of which were encouraging him to place more bets.

While it wasn’t definitely proven, the accused also claimed that FanDuel’s messaging would become more persistent the longer he went without placing wagers.

Sorsby has the record to help prove his addiction, and further investigations could show the sportsbooks he used were targeting him. If so, it would likely result in Sorsby filing a lawsuit against those involved, similar to the one in Jacksonville.

Answers we still need

The most important part of this story is that Sorsby is getting the help he needs and that no other victims were involved. However, there are several questions we still need answers to. 

The first is the sportsbooks Sorsby used, and when and how he placed the wagers. Was he using a friend’s account to partake, or was he placing wagers using his own information? Also, we need to know where he was placing wagers and whether any took place in a school’s athletic facilities.

The next most significant question is how he got into sports betting so young. He shouldn’t have been able to place any wagers at 18. Underage betting is a growing concern in the world of sports betting, making it important to identify how the quarterback managed to place wagers.

Lastly, we need clarity on his betting activity and why sportsbooks or other watchdogs didn’t flag it. This will help us determine whether operators should have caught this earlier, or at least ensure the industry is aware of how Sorsby went undetected.