Sports

CBS Sports Backtracks After Using Betting Odds To Cover Impact Of Brendan Sorsby’s Gambling Issue

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Brendan Sorsby Texas Tech

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Earlier this week, we learned Texas Tech QB Brendan Sorsby had left the team to seek treatment for a gambling addiction. That development was the lastest story to shine a light on the dark side of the widespread legalization of sports betting, and CBS Sports made the tone-deaf decision to use odds to highlight the impact his absence could have on the Red Raiders this season.

It’s been eight years since the landmark Supreme Court decision that ushered in a new era of sports betting in the United States. It was a positive development for many fans who were happy to see it come out of the shadows (and the states that were able to take advantage of some newfound tax revenue), but you didn’t need to be a genius to know there would also be some negative ramifications.

The NHL is the only one of the “Big Four” sports leagues that has not had to deal with a major scandal involving players who’ve been pinched for fixing bets. The NCAA has also had its hands full thanks to a number of student-athletes who’ve ignored its ban on sports betting, including some notable names who’ve developed an addiction.

Earlier this year, former LSU wide receiver Kayshon Boutte revealed he lost $90,000 during his time with the Tigers, and this week, Texas Tech’s Brendan Sorsby entered an inpatient rehabilitation program in connection with the more than 10,000 bets he reportedly made before the issue came to light.

It is fair to wonder how the situation will impact the team that poached him from Cincinnati in the offseason, but one major media outlet missed the mark in a big way while attempting to break things down.

CBS Sports deleted the gambling odds they used while discussing the impact the Brendan Sorsby situation will have on Texas Tech

One of the biggest gripes fans have had with the normalization of sports betting is the way it has managed to permeate almost every type of coverage, as broadcasters and media outlets have been very eager to partner with the sportsbooks that pay them to inject lines and parlays into their coverage.

With that said, reporters have been citing (or at least alluding to) odds before they became virtually impossible to avoid, and it would be foolish to pretend they don’t have any utility; I don’t have any financial incentive to reference them, but I do so every now and then due to the fact that they’re an easily digestible way to sum up the general sentimenet surrounding various situations.

However, if I were going to write a story about a college football player seeking treatment for a gambling problem, figuring out a way to incorporate odds would not be at the top of my list of priorities.

However, Brad Crawford of CBS Sports decided to go that route when covering the Sorsby situation earlier this week in an article that noted Texas Tech’s odds of winning the Big Ten have fallen to +100 as questions swirl about the QB’s future.

That reference has since been removed, and the piece has been updated with a note that reads, “The original version of this article included information that was not sensitive to the subject matter. CBS Sports regrets this error.”

The NCAA has launched an investigation that could lead to Sorbsy being deemed ineligible for some (if not all) of the 2026 season, and there is speculation he could declare for the NFL’s supplemental draft. However, the situation is still very fluid as things currently stand.