The Military Gaming Awareness Committee has been created by the Kindbridge Research Institute

On Wednesday, the Kindbridge Research Institute they have established the Military Gaming Awareness Committee (MGAC). Their mission is to address the mitigation of problem gambling and how it affects the military community. Marc Lucia is the Chairperson for the MGAC. He was a special forces medic with deployments in Europe. Eventually. Lucia found himself at Johns Hopkins University to study military mental health. He ended up graduating with a dual MBA and MPH. Lucia had this to say when interviewed about his new position.

“Sports betting when I was in the military was never largely talked about and it really hasn’t been,” said Lucia. “And I think at this point when I talk to folks who are still in [the military], I don’t get the impression that sports gambling in the military is being considered a whole lot, and I think a lot of what drives that is the press that comes around it.”

Who are the members of the MGAC?

Daniel Umfleet is the CEO and founder of Kindbridge. Umfleet personally assembled the seven-person team for the MGAC. Together, they all share experiences in sports gambling and other events directly related to the military. Brianne Doura-Schawohl is the MGAC’s policy advisor. She’s been a long-time advocate for responsible gambling. Caroline Ponseti is part of the team as well, bringing experience as the former American Gaming Association media relations director. Richard Taylor currently serves as Senior Manager for Responsible Gaming at BetMGM. He’s also been appointed as a member of the MGAC. 

Joe Solosky joined the MGAC with experience as the managing director of sports betting at NASCAR. Rounding out the seven-person team at the MGAC are  Kinectify CEO Joseph Martin and 11-year U.S. Army veteran, David Yeager. Mrs. Doura-Schawohl served in the past as the legislative director for the National Council on Problem Gambling. Additionally, she is the spouse of someone in the military. Mrs. Ponseti was previously the press secretary for the U.S. House Committee on Veteran’s Affairs. Richard Taylor spent time on the AGA’s Responsible Gaming Board and is a former marine.

The first step for the MGAC is spreading awareness

Marc Lucia is aware that the MGAC needs to deal with this practically. They cannot expect the problem to be solved right away and it will take time. The first step for them is to spread awareness of problem gambling in the military. Once they’ve done that, the MGAC will be ready for the next step. Lucia wants to use technology to his full advantage to target problem gambling.