Arabic version: صناديق المؤشرات المتداولة لفرق الرياضات الاحترافية تثير مخاوف بشأن المقامرة

According to Cnbc, asset managers have filed for hundreds of exchange-traded funds tied to the single-season performance of individual NHL and MLB teams. The proposed funds would use futures contracts linked to team statistics, rather than provide ownership stakes in franchises. None of the individual-team funds has begun trading.

VolatilityShares, LeagueShares, Roundhill Investments and Rex Financial are among the firms pursuing the products. Rex has filed for BaseballShares and HockeyShares, which would track Major League Baseball and National Hockey League teams through CME Group futures on indexes built by FutureSports. The NHL futures began trading in late September, but need to establish a trading history before the ETFs can proceed.

Finance experts cited in the report said the products resemble wagering more than conventional investing. Robert Johnson, a finance professor at Creighton University, said, “The line between gambling and investing has not simply been blurred, it has been erased.” He said the structures are “simply gambling dressed up as investing,” arguing that individual investors betting on teams they follow are not hedging natural positions.

Alex Michalka of Wealthfront said the case for investing in sports-team performance is difficult to separate from gambling, although he did not rule out a legitimate economic use case. Todd Sohn of Baird Strategas warned of potential liquidity, price-discovery and manipulation risks, as well as possible insider-trading concerns connected to injuries, trades and coaching changes. Baird Strategas also flagged the prospect of wide bid-ask spreads and market imbalances driven by fan enthusiasm.

Other sports-focused ETFs take a more conventional approach. Gabelli Funds’ Opportunities in Live and Sports ETF, trading under GOLS since January, holds shares in team owners as well as media and entertainment companies. Amplify ETFs has filed for the actively managed PROS ETF, which would invest in public and private companies that own or operate professional teams, leagues and venues. Nate Geraci of NovaDius Wealth Management said he expects the team-performance ETFs to be approved if the futures operate properly and establish sufficient liquidity.