Mojo Sportsbook, a sports marketing platform, is taking a new approach to sports betting. Mojo Fantasy enables users to build a portfolio of NFL or MLB players that will compete with other portfolios during the game. Mojo CEO and Co-Founder Vinit Bharara highlights the platform's unique appeal saying, "this is an idea of a live experience and liquid dynamic we offer, which we think is really different." Bharara says it is an excellent choice for individuals who may not be well-versed in traditional sports gambling but are comfortable with apps like Robinhood. While Mojo Sportsbook is currently limited to use in New Jersey, Mojo Fantasy is accessible in 19 different states, as well as Wahington D.C. Seana Smith sits down with Vinit Bharara to delve into the legal aspects and the potential future impact of Mojo on the sports betting industry.

Video Transcript

- As the NFL season heads into week 2 sports, betting is shifting into high gear. And one company is offering a new way to gamble on your favorite players. Sports marketing platform Mojo has launched Mojo Fantasy, allowing users to build a portfolio of players from the NFL and the MLB and trade in real-time.

For more on that, we want to bring in Vinit Bharara. He's co-founder of Mojo, also CEO. Vinit, it's good to see you. Thanks so much for taking the time. Let's talk about this new launch and your strategy behind it. Why get in to daily fantasy?

VINIT BHARARA: So as you mentioned, we've launched-- prior to the fantasy, we have an online regulated sportsbook in New Jersey. The idea is to bet on athletes and teams like stocks. We've seen a lot of traction in that sportsbook, but it's a small audience in New Jersey, only 3% of the population.

And so the idea was, how do we quickly expand this offering to a much more national audience as fast as we can? And the way to do that was we created a new app, a new product, based on our sportsbook, that's a fantasy version, which now allows us to get into states like California, Florida, Texas. I can explain how it works. But the impetus was, how do we get the core of this product into the hands of as many people as quickly as possible, given the traction we've seen in New Jersey?

- You certainly got a lot of interest from people who are watching. Walk us through how this works.

VINIT BHARARA: So the idea of Mojo, again, I'll start with the sportsbook first because I think that's-- you can understand how the fantasy version is. But the premise is, we think it's pretty cool for the everyday sports fan to basically bet on sports like stocks.

So what we mean by that is that anything that you normally bet on, whether it's a team bet, or an athlete, or an over/under, or something like this, what we do is we create a Robinhood type UX. So it's very simple and less intimidating than a lot of the other sportsbooks. And the core functionality for the customer is there's this liquidity; they can always get into a bet and out of a bet at all times at the latest odds.

And we do that as the game is being placed-- as the game is happening. So it's an incredible second screen experience or an incredible live experience, I think, unlike anything that customers are used to.

And now, the fantasy version of that is it's limited just to players. So you can't start betting on teams. You have to pick four of those players. And you're competing against other people in these contests for money, so real money. But that's what makes it legal.

- Vinit, who's your target customer? Are you going after the same person that maybe bets daily when it comes to DraftKings or uses FanDuel? Is that your target customer or are you looking for somebody else that maybe has not been interested in sports betting before?

VINIT BHARARA: It's a great question. And I think we've got multiple targets. We definitely have the same customer in some respects as the DraftKings and FanDuel, or folks that just like to basically gamble or play fantasy. But I think we bring on a new customer as well, someone who likes to trade stocks, familiar with Robinhood, doesn't like the intimidating nature necessarily of how some of those sportsbooks operate.

So I feel like it's-- and we've seen this so far. We've brought in a lot of younger folks who don't gamble or use those other platforms a lot, but who truly get how Robinhood works. So it's interesting.

- Can you talk a bit about the expansion and where you see the opportunities? I mean, naturally, we're looking at bigger markets as being the big driver you launched last year in New Jersey. But when you think about the opportunities that are out there, where do you see the biggest revenue drivers?

VINIT BHARARA: So we focus a lot on what-- we think live is the future; live betting, live gameplay. That's really interesting because when you look at Europe, 80% of the activity is live. In the US, we're behind them a little bit because gambling is only five years-- it was only legalized about five years ago.

So we think the trend is all going to be about where-- who has the best live experience? That's why our product is geared towards that, this second-to-second latest odds, pricing, tracking the game, all the volatility, the ups and downs of the game itself. That's our focus. We think that's where the future is.

- Vinit, when you take a look at the sports betting landscape right now, you have many competitors within the space. Obviously, you have DraftKings and FanDuel, like we alluded to before. But then you also have new entrants this year when it comes to ESPN bet. You have Fanatics also jumping in.

When you talk about distinguishing yourself further or really capitalizing on that potential market opportunity, growth opportunity there, how big of a threat do you think some of those more traditional players are?

VINIT BHARARA: I think the key, as you just said, is going to be who differentiates their product the most? From where I see it, I think they're all incredible companies. But they're all offering mostly the same exact product. You can find the exact same bet in the same exact appearance on all of those.

So I don't necessarily see so clearly the differentiation between all of those platforms. The main thing there is the marketing that they're doing. They have a ton of money and they have rewards, and offers, and promos. That's how I think that game is being played.

So I think the future will be, who can come out and create the most differentiated products and separate themselves on the core value proposition? And that's why we focus a lot of money not on marketing, but mostly on our technology and our product and our UX, and then this idea of the live experience and the liquid dynamic that we offer, which we think is truly different.

- And Vinit, I'm curious to get some intel on where the bets are being placed, specifically on the sportsbook. You were talking about, look, you can bet on athletes, what you would do with stocks. How many people have their money on Aaron Rodgers?

VINIT BHARARA: It's a great question. So I don't know. I have to get the exact number of how many people actually had bets on him. One thing that's very unique and I didn't really get into it yet is we have a certain bet that we offer where you can bet on the future career of an athlete. You can't find that anywhere else.

So on Aaron Rodgers, during the game, and in most unfortunate thing because when he suffered the injury, there is a lot of doubt now on his future career, so his price went down 50% automatically-- immediately. And what's also interesting is that Zach Wilson's price, the backup quarterback, went up 20% instantly as Aaron Rodgers went down 50%.

So that is the thing that you see when people are trying to figure out, what is the future career of this athlete? That's against something you can't find anywhere else that really resembles a stock market.

- That's interesting. I was wondering what would happen if you had one of the players that had, unfortunately, been injured in week 1? Vinit, great to have you. Thanks so much for joining us on the insight there. Vinit Bharara, Mojo co-founder and CEO.