Revealing potential Kalshi stakes
An unsealed legal filing in Florida has revealed that Fanatics sued a former employee who left to join Polymarket while its owner is allegedly an investor in a competitor. As first reported by Front Office Sports, the defendant claimed that Fanatics founder and CEO Michael Rubin has a stake in rival prediction markets company Kalshi.
understood that King and Michael Rubin had personal investments in Kalshi
The filing shows testimony from ex-Fanatics Chief Business Officer (CBO) Ari Borod, who said that, after speaking with Fanatics Betting and Gaming CEO Matt King, he understood that King and Michael Rubin had personal investments in Kalshi, a direct competitor to Polymarket. The investment pre-dated Fanatics’ launch of its own prediction markets product in early December.
Arguing its corner
Fanatics attempted to block Borod from moving to Polymarket after he told the company in December of his planned move the following month. It claimed that Borod was bound by a one-year non-compete because Polymarket was a direct competitor.
Borod claimed that his contract didn’t have such a clause and that Fanatics wasn’t a direct competitor. He also claims that his previous employer threatened to bring “the entire weight of Fanatics” against him if he tried to move to Polymarket.
Borod started as Polymarket’s sports business development president on January 2, before Fanatics filed for a temporary and preliminary injunction on January 12. The case was ultimately settled out of court.
Polymarket eyes major sports league deals
Another interesting aspect of the court filing is Fanatics’ claim that Borod improperly pursued relationships between Polymarket and major sports leagues such as the NBA and MLB. Neither of these leagues has partnered with any prediction market companies to date. Borod said he joined pre-existing conversations of potential partnerships, rather than starting discussions himself.
Borod also claimed that blocking his move to Polymarket would cause serious damage to his career and finances, putting a price tag of more than $5m on this harm.
