The NBA is reviewing Minnesota Timberwolves and Lynx owners Marc Lore and Alex Rodriguez over their involvement in Mojo Interactive, a startup that has begun trading on sports outcomes through prediction market exchange Kalshi. The review comes as the league deals with fallout from a federal probe into player and coach involvement in sports gambling, according to Bloomberg.
Mojo began trading event contracts tied to sports during the NFL season this fall. The company has not yet traded on any NBA games, CEO Vinit Bharara said in an interview.
An NBA spokesperson confirmed the league is reviewing the arrangement to verify compliance with applicable rules. NBA team and league personnel are prohibited from trading NBA or WNBA contracts on any prediction market platform.
“We understand Minnesota Timberwolves and Lynx team owners Marc Lore and Alex Rodriguez each hold minority interests in Mojo, and are not involved in any day-to-day company operations,” the spokesperson said. “We are reviewing this arrangement to verify compliance with applicable league rules.”
Lore and Rodriguez said through a spokesperson 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 stake in betting companies if they do not personally oversee operations tied to NBA wagers. Houston Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta owns Golden Nugget Hotel and Casinos. Dallas Mavericks owner Patrick Dumont serves as president and COO of Las Vegas Sands.
Prediction markets represent uncharted territory for sports leagues because they are regulated differently than traditional betting. While leagues have longstanding relationships with gambling companies and state gaming agencies, they are still developing relationships with exchanges like Kalshi and Polymarket, which are overseen by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
Kalshi prohibits NBA owners from trading on league games. The exchange said Mojo is subject to federally-regulated surveillance systems and prohibited from using material nonpublic information.
Lore and Rodriguez co-founded Mojo with Bharara in 2021. The company was originally licensed as an online sportsbook in New Jersey in 2022 but shut down that operation the following year. Its main business now provides risk management and pricing services to sportsbooks.
Lore and Rodriguez gained control of the Timberwolves and Lynx earlier this year after a protracted legal dispute.