President Donald Trump’s social media platform is getting into prediction markets through an “exclusive” deal with Crypto.com that will include sports event contracts. It represents the third prediction-markets platform that the president’s son, Donald Trump Jr., is connected to—following agreements with Kalshi and Polymarket.

The new platform from Truth Social will be called Truth Predict and offer event contracts on everything from political elections and commodity prices to “events across all major sports leagues,” according to a statement. The platform will be available through an “exclusive arrangement” with a unit of Crypto.com that is federally registered with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

Sports event contracts have generated particular controversy because they appear so similar to sports betting, which is regulated on a state-by-state basis in the U.S. Yet Trump Media & Technology Group—the parent company of Truth Social—intends to offer them, with beta testing expected to begin “in the near future,” followed by a “full launch in the United States,” and later a global launch “once all the requisite requirements are met,” the company’s statement said.

President Trump is the largest shareholder of Trump Media with a roughly 53% stake, although last December he transferred all of his shares into a revocable trust controlled by Trump Jr., his eldest son. Trump Jr. is also a director on the board for Trump Media.

Trump Jr. has significant involvement in the world of prediction markets—and it’s only growing. In January, he was announced as a strategic advisor to Kalshi—the same month the company launched its first sports event contracts. In August, it was revealed Trump Jr., through his investment firm 1789 Capital, had invested in Polymarket (Kalshi’s direct competitor) and would join the company’s advisory board.

Then, a spokesperson for Trump Jr. told Front Office Sports, “This doesn’t change anything regarding Don’s role with Kalshi. Don is committed to supporting the prediction market industry as a whole and couldn’t be more excited about his new role with Polymarket.” That spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment Tuesday.

The deal announced Tuesday isn’t the first agreement between Trump Media and Crypto.com. In late August, those two entities and a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) called Yorkville Acquisition Corp. said they were entering into a deal to establish a business called Trump Media Group CRO Strategy Inc., which was described as a “digital asset treasury company” that will focus on acquiring, and potentially trading, a cryptocurrency token called cronos. 

In Tuesday’s announcement, Trump Media said Truth Social users who have “Truth gems,” a digital currency earned by interacting on the platform, will be able to convert those into cronos, which can then be used on event contracts.

Trump’s social media platform is entering prediction markets as competition is ratcheting up. DraftKings last week agreed to spend up to $250 million to buy the Railbird Exchange platform, while FanDuel in August reached a deal with derivatives exchange CME Group; there, the sports betting giant also chose not to commit to sports event contracts.

Meanwhile, Kalshi—which is fighting multiple court battles over its sports offerings, including a new one it filed Monday against regulators in New York after receiving a cease-and-desist in that state—raised $300 million at a $5 billion valuation earlier this month. Polymarket, which is expected to relaunch in the U.S. imminently after having been previously barred from operating in the country since 2022, will receive up to $2 billion from the operator of the New York Stock Exchange in a deal announced this month. Both Kalshi and Polymarket have reportedly received recent takeover interest.

Kalshi and Polymarket declined to comment, and a representative for Trump Media did not immediately respond to a request to comment.

Shares of Trump Media were up less than 1% Tuesday afternoon.

Disney’s acquisition of a majority stake in Fubo has closed, after the U.S. Department of Justice completed its probe and cleared the controversial transaction, Front Office Sports has learned.

The completion of the deal—which will see the ESPN parent buy a roughly 70% stake in Fubo and merge it with the Hulu + Live TV streaming service—was announced Wednesday morning. Existing Fubo shareholders will own the remaining 30%. Fubo stock was up more than 19% in premarket trading Wednesday.

The DOJ had launched an investigation into the transaction for potential antitrust issues in April, but that probe has concluded and the agency okayed the deal within the last week, a source familiar with the matter tells FOS. 

On Tuesday, Puck had reported that the ongoing federal government shutdown—which just entered its fourth week—could result in the imminent completion of the deal, because deadlines were set to lapse while Antitrust Division staffers remain furloughed.

The companies say the deal creates the sixth-largest pay-TV provider in the U.S. with almost six million subscribers. It will offer more than 55,000 live sporting events. 

The deal, announced in January, includes a $220 million payment by Disney to Fubo and a $145 million loan scheduled for next year. 

The transaction helped resolve legal claims stemming from the introduction of the now-shuttered Venu Sports, a joint streaming service that had been planned by ESPN, Fox, and Warner Bros. Discovery. Fubo had sued over the formation of Venu last summer, arguing the initiative violated U.S. antitrust law. Fubo succeeded in blocking the intended debut of Venu last fall, and the case was still ongoing when the saga came to a sudden end in early January when Disney agreed to buy the majority stake in Fubo.

Not everyone was pleased with the outcome. Satellite TV carriers DirecTV and EchoStar filed letters with the U.S. District Court, arguing that the Disney-Fubo deal and the resulting dismissal of legal claims did not “address the underlying competition issues,” and that Disney simply paid Fubo “to ensure cooperation from an aggrieved competitor.” 

Lawmakers, including Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D., Mass.), in particular, also viewed the proposed transaction suspiciously. Warren said it would “allow Disney to simultaneously circumvent the lawsuit while gobbling up a competitor” and urged the DOJ to probe the deal.

“The favors keep rolling in for companies that suck up to Donald Trump—and who pays the price? The American people,” Warren said in a statement to FOS on Wednesday. “The Trump administration’s approval of this merger means sports fans should get ready for higher costs and fewer choices to watch the games they care about.”

Although Venu never got off the ground, something like it may still wind up existing now that Disney has completed its deal for Fubo. Disney CEO Bob Iger said in August that there have been discussions to add other companies’ sports offerings to the new ESPN streaming platform.

A representative for the DOJ declined to comment.

Mark Walter is buying the Lakers with a little help from his friend, Front Office Sports has learned.

Walter’s record-breaking deal for the iconic franchise also features his longtime business partner, Todd Boehly, with whom he co-owns the Dodgers, according to two sources familiar with the matter. Boehly’s involvement in the deal, which is expected to close as soon as the end of this week, has not previously been reported. ESPN first reported the deal could close before the start of November. 

In total, Walter and Boehly will own about 85% of the Lakers upon the deal’s completion—the exact size stakes that Walter and Boehly will individually own was not clear, although Walter will be the majority owner and Boehly will be a limited partner, the sources tell FOS. Walter and Boehly purchased a 27% stake in the Lakers in 2021.

The transaction, first announced in June, sees the Buss family ceding control after nearly five decades of majority ownership. It values the Lakers at $10 billion, surpassing the $6.1 billion sale of the Celtics to a group led by Bill Chisholm announced last spring. 

Jeanie Buss will retain a roughly 15% stake in the franchise and stay on as team governor for now—15% is the minimum stake required to serve in that position (team governors represent the franchise at board of governors meetings). Jerry Buss bought the Lakers, Kings, and Los Angeles Forum for $67.5 million in 1979. Jeanie Buss, 64, has been governor since her father died in 2013.

A representative for the NBA declined to comment. Representatives for the Lakers, Walter, and Boehly did not respond to requests for comment by time of publication.

The agreement will take place in one fell swoop, unlike the last few team sales, the sources tell FOS. Tom Dundon’s purchase of the Trail Blazers, valued at north of $4 billion, will take place in multiple stages over the next few years, FOS reported earlier this month. The Celtics deal is also taking place in stages, with the first portion—which resulted in Chisholm taking over as majority owner—completed in August, and a second phase expected to close in 2028. 

The multistage deals have continued despite NBA commissioner Adam Silver saying in April 2024, amid the messy Timberwolves sale process, that the league could revisit certain multistage deal structures. There, Glen Taylor agreed to sell the Timberwolves to Marc Lore and Alex Rodriguez at a $1.5 billion valuation, only to later dispute the deal. The matter ended up in arbitration, where an arbitrator ruled in favor of Lore and Rodriguez. The deal was completed in June.

Walter and Boehly co-own the Dodgers, which have done well since they took over the team in 2012. They are the defending World Series champions, and also won it all in 2020. Including this season, they’ve made the World Series five times since Walter and Boehly bought the team. The duo has a long history working together, including at Guggenheim Partners, where Walter is still CEO. Boehly left Guggenheim in 2015 to launch his own firm, Eldridge Industries.

In 2022, Boehly led a consortium that bought Premier League soccer club Chelsea, although the majority owner there is private-equity firm Clearlake Capital. Boehly and Walter are both minority owners in Chelsea.

In addition to the Lakers, Dodgers, and Chelsea, Walter and Boehly’s sports portfolio includes the WNBA’s Sparks. Walter’s holdings also include Cadillac’s Formula One team, and he is the primary financial backer of the PWHL.

The Lakers, who have won 17 NBA championships in their history, are 2–2 to start the 2025–26 season, behind strong performances from Luka Dončić and Austin Reaves. LeBron James has not played due to sciatica issues. With the Buss family departing as majority owners and Walter and Boehly taking over, it’s truly a new era of Lakers basketball.