Mojo, the platform mixing stock market mechanics with sports betting and fantasy competition has launched in New Jersey after raising $100m through various investors.
Founders include entrepreneur and Minnesota Timberwolves owner Marc Lore and fellow co-owner Alex Rodriguez. These two are joined by tech executives Bart Stein and Vinit Bharara.
Bhara commented: "We thought it would be an amazing thing for the everyday sports fan if they could invest in athletes like stocks – what if we could create what we were calling a sports stock market."
The first venture into this idea was The Pit, launched in 1990 by Lore and Bhara. The company used sports cards as proxies for players and Topps bought the company for $5.7m in 2001.
Bhara continued: "Fast forward 20 years later, and Marc calls me and he says, 'This idea that we had a long time ago, this idea of the sports stock market, we should do that again. We should do it the right away."
Back in March, Mojo announced a $75m investment round led by Thrive Capital. Since then, the company has raised $25m in equity and venture debt.
Investors include Tiger Global, Fin Capital, Courtside Ventures, and TriplePoint Capital along with the NFLPA, The Chainsmokers’ Mantis Ventures, Chris Rock, Gary Vaynerchuk and Jason Derulo.
NFL Players President Steve Scebelo added: "We see a huge opportunity for Mojo to transform sports fandom by bringing fans closer to the players they know and love."
The app is similar to Robinhood, the stock market trading app, offering player charts and portfolio data.
Mojo plans to have its markets open during NFL games, allowing snap trading through the season. It also hopes to offer other professional sports and has the intention to expand to nine additional states.
