A start-up’s entry into prediction market trading is raising fresh questions about the involvement of NBA owners in sports betting.
The start-up, Mojo Interactive Inc, was cofounded by Alex Rodriguez and Marc Lore, the owners of the NBA’s Minnesota Timberwolves and the WNBA’s Lynx. Mojo has started trading on the outcome of sports games on the prediction market exchange Kalshi, an arrangement that is now being reviewed by the NBA.
Mojo began trading event contracts tied to sports during the NFL season this fall, according to Mojo CEO Vinit Bharara.
Photo: Bruce Kluckhohn-Imagn Images
Mojo has yet to trade on any NBA games, Bharara said in an interview with Bloomberg.
Earlier this year, Kalshi introduced a new form of federally regulated sports betting, which has recently taken off, and caught the eye of both financial firms and sports gambling companies, despite pushback from state gaming authorities.
Mojo’s activity on Kalshi, which has not previously been publicly disclosed, comes at a sensitive moment for the NBA, as it deals with the fallout from a federal probe into the involvement of players and coaches in sports gambling.
A spokesperson for the NBA told Bloomberg the league is reviewing Mojo’s entrance into prediction markets.
“NBA team and league personnel are prohibited from trading NBA or WNBA contracts on any prediction market platform,” the spokesperson said. “We understand Minnesota Timberwolves and Lynx team owners Marc Lore and Alex Rodriquez each hold minority interests in Mojo, and are not involved in any day-to-day company operations. We are reviewing this arrangement to verify compliance with applicable league rules.”
Lore, the founder of multiple e-commerce startups, and Rodriguez, a former MLB All-Star, said through a spokesperson that they “remain in full compliance with the NBA’s policy as defined and have communicated with the league in keeping with their responsibilities as owners.”
The league allows owners to own stakes in betting companies so long as they do not personally oversee the operations tied to NBA wagers. Houston Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta also owns Golden Nugget Hotel and Casinos. Dallas Mavericks owner Patrick Dumont is president and chief operating officer of resort and casino operator Las Vegas Sands.
Prediction markets are uncharted territory because they are so new and regulated differently from traditional betting.
While sports leagues have long-standing relationships with gambling companies and state gaming agencies, they are still working out their relationships with exchanges like Kalshi and its biggest rival Polymarket, which are overseen by the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
“The Pandora’s box has been opened,” said Mark Conrad, a law professor and director of the sports business program at Fordham University’s Gabelli School of Business.
Conrad said investments in prediction market trading bring up new potential concerns around conflicts of interest, market manipulation, and insider trading.
Kalshi has seen trading explode this year, driven in large part by sports-related contracts. The weekly volume of trading on Kalshi and its chief rival, Polymarket, rose above US$2 billion for the first time last month.
Kalshi prohibits NBA owners from trading on the league’s games.
“Like all Kalshi members, Mojo is strictly prohibited from using material nonpublic information to trade and is subject to our federally-regulated surveillance systems,” said Jack Such, a spokesperson for the exchange.