NBA Reviews Timberwolves Owners’ Ties to Kalshi
The NBA has launched a compliance review into the business activities of Minnesota Timberwolves and Lynx owners Marc Lore and Alex Rodriguez. The review focuses on the owners’ involvement with the startup Mojo Interactive Inc., which recently started trading on the prediction market exchange Kalshi.
Owners’ Startup Enters New Financial Territory
Lore and Rodriguez are co-founders of Mojo Interactive Inc., holding minority stakes in the company. Mojo began trading event contracts tied to sports outcomes on the Kalshi exchange during the NFL season. Vinit Bharara, Mojo’s CEO, confirmed that the platform has not yet traded on any NBA games.
Lore and Rodriguez stated they are not involved in the company’s daily operations. They affirm they are in full compliance with NBA policy and have maintained communication with the league as required of owners.
This specific area poses new challenges for the league because prediction markets operate differently from traditional sports betting. They fall under the federal oversight of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), rather than state gaming agencies. Experts warn that these investments raise new concerns about potential conflicts of interest and insider trading.
Lore and Rodriguez founded Mojo in 2021. The initial plan was to create a stock market where clients could buy and sell shares in professional athletes. Mojo briefly obtained an online sports betting license in New Jersey in 2022 before shutting down that operation the next year. Mojo’s main business today is providing risk management and pricing services to sportsbooks. Mojo has raised over $100 million from investors, including the owners, Thrive Capital, and the NFL Players Association.
Compliance and Policy Background
The NBA allows owners to hold shares in betting companies. The rule requires that the owners do not personally supervise operations related to NBA betting. For instance, Houston Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta owns Golden Nugget Casinos, and Dallas Mavericks owner Patrick Dumont is president of Las Vegas Sands.
However, the league strictly bans team and league personnel, including owners, from trading NBA or WNBA contracts on any prediction market platform. Kalshi itself also prohibits NBA owners from trading on league games. As a member of Kalshi, Mojo is federally regulated and strictly forbidden from using material non-public information for trading.
The review comes at a sensitive time for the NBA. The league is already managing the fallout from a federal investigation into player and coach involvement in sports wagering. The entry of owners into the federally regulated prediction market space represents uncharted territory for the league, mixing sports management with a new type of financial derivative.
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