Mohegan Tribe Pledges $2 million to Fund Yale’s App for Problem Gamblers

• Mohegan Tribe Will Partner with Yale University to Fund Problem Gambling App
• Partnership Could Help Problem Gamblers Find Treatment
• Legal Sports Betting in Connecticut has Generated Millions in Tax Revenue

Mohegan Tribe Will Partner With Yale University to Fund Problem Gambling App

Yale University’s School of Medicine is using cognitive behavioral therapy to power an app it is currently developing aimed at combating problem gambling, and the Mohegan Tribe – owners of the Mohegan Sun casino in Uncasville, Connecticut – have announced they will help fund that.

Over the next five years, the Mohegan Tribe has pledged to invest $2 million in Yale’s project, this app an attempt to treat the addiction to gambling that creates a major moral downside to the financially successful gaming markets that are growing exponentially across the United States.

According to Dr. Brian Kiluk, an associate professor of psychiatry at the Yale School of Medicine, this treatment tactic they are utilizing is “an evidence-based treatment for substance use as well as other behavioral addictions including gambling.”

At a recent media event at the Mohegan Community and Government Center on Crow Hill Road in Montville, Ray Pineault, president and chief executive officer of Mohegan Gaming & Entertainment, was optimistic about how these efforts might succeed, saying:

This will revolutionize the treatment of problem gambling.

Addiction to gambling is an issue that requires constant effort to combat.

Partnership Could Help Problem Gamblers Find Treatment

Problem gambling is an issue that has been brought to attention as more states have begun to take advantage of their right to legalize, regulate, and tax their own sports betting markets along with providing broader access to casinos, racetracks, bingo halls, and betting kiosks statewide.

As we have reported recently, though most gamblers bet responsibly, a small percentage do have trouble disciplining their gambling and those addicts cause suffering for their families, workplaces, and community, a dark factor no doubt fueling the Yale / Mohegan partnership.

The app they are working to develop is meant to give those problem gamblers access to another version of treatment, an attempt to fill a gap that Yale’s Dr. Kiluk has noticed, saying:

I think one of the challenges in the field – not just gambling, but mental health in general – is that there just aren’t enough treatment providers available to meet the demand and the need of individuals.

Legal Sports Betting in Connecticut Has Generated Millions in Tax Revenue

Millions of monthly gaming revenue dollars are being generated by the state of Connecticut’s new sports betting and iGaming market, in fact in its first three weeks of operation in December 2021, it took in over $54.6 million in wagers, an initial surge that still has legs in 2022.

That meant $1.7 million in tax revenue from the state in that first month, and that money should keep coming in as that market grows, so problem gambling will keep increasing unless that issue is continued to be addressed and attempts are made to offer accessible treatment.

And what could be easier to access than an app on a device, a simple first step that problem gamblers can take to begin their search for treatment, all dependent on the success of this new Yale University and Mohegan Tribe partnership that aims to help those addicted bettors in need.

Click here for more information on How to Gamble Responsibly, According to the Experts and also on What Sports Betting Companies Should Be Doing to Protect their Customers.