Contracts based on FutureSports Performance Indexes (FSPI) to offer new hedging vehicles for sports ecosystem, trading opportunities for institutions and individuals
CHICAGO, July 29, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- CME Group, the world's leading derivatives marketplace, and FutureSports, the new independent index administrator transforming professional and college sports statistics into rules-based, benchmark financial indexes, today announced a long-term partnership through which CME Group will list futures and options on FutureSports Performance Indexes (FSPI).
Based on FutureSports' transparent methodology and officially reported, league-approved statistical outcomes, the contracts will provide new hedging and risk transfer capabilities for the sports ecosystem and a variety of new trading opportunities for institutions and individuals. The first monthly and quarterly cash-settled FSPI futures will begin trading this summer, pending regulatory review, with details to be announced in the coming weeks.
"CME Group is where the world comes to manage risk, and that's exactly what we're bringing to the business of sports leagues," said CME Group Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Terry Duffy. "The contracts we're developing with FutureSports are built on rigorous indexes and backed by the transparency and integrity that only exchange-traded products deliver. This isn't just a new product — it's about bringing real price discovery and risk management discipline to an industry that's ready for it."
Leigh Taylforth, FutureSports Co-Founder, said: "We're seeing incredible demand for these unique new contracts as hedging instruments from a broad range of potential participants, from stadium owners and operators, to sports sponsors and endorsers, insurers, sports apparel manufacturers and league broadcasting partners, among others. The ideal trading venue for these first-of-their-kind instruments on a $650 billion global industry is CME Group, where there is already a vast community of institutional market participants and liquidity providers eager to trade innovative futures contracts."
Bob Fitzimmons, EVP at Wedbush Securities, said: "The FutureSports indexes take the insular world of the business of global sports and open it up to the global capital markets. What was once relegated to wealthy individuals and private entities now becomes a tradable financial asset that can be used as a risk management tool in the dynamic ecosystem that encompasses sports, media, entertainment, real estate and technology. We at Wedbush are proud to be a part of this burgeoning asset class."
The indexes are administered by FutureSports, with methodologies designed to align with the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) Principles for Financial Benchmarks and supported by published governance, oversight and methodology change procedures. The leagues serve as official data sources and do not participate in index determination or governance.
FutureSports will be announcing a series of exclusive partnerships with global professional sporting leagues, where team and athlete statistics will be turned into broad-based, continuously priced benchmark indexes.
About CME Group
As the world's leading derivatives marketplace, CME Group (www.cmegroup.com) enables clients to trade futures, options, cash and OTC markets, optimize portfolios, and analyze data – empowering market participants worldwide to efficiently manage risk and capture opportunities. CME Group exchanges offer the widest range of global benchmark products across all major asset classes based on interest rates, equity indexes, foreign exchange, cryptocurrencies, energy, agricultural products and metals. The company offers futures and options on futures trading through the CME Globex platform, fixed income trading via BrokerTec and foreign exchange trading on the EBS platform. In addition, it operates one of the world's leading central counterparty clearing providers, CME Clearing.
CME Group, the Globe logo, CME, Chicago Mercantile Exchange, Globex, and E-mini are trademarks of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. CBOT and Chicago Board of Trade are trademarks of Board of Trade of the City of Chicago, Inc. NYMEX, New York Mercantile Exchange and ClearPort are trademarks of New York Mercantile Exchange, Inc. COMEX is a trademark of Commodity Exchange, Inc. BrokerTec is a trademark of BrokerTec Americas LLC and EBS is a trademark of EBS Group LTD. The S&P 500 Index is a product of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC ("S&P DJI"). "S&P®", "S&P 500®", "SPY®", "SPX®", US 500 and The 500 are trademarks of Standard & Poor's Financial Services LLC; Dow Jones®, DJIA® and Dow Jones Industrial Average are service and/or trademarks of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC. These trademarks have been licensed for use by Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. Futures contracts based on the S&P 500 Index are not sponsored, endorsed, marketed, or promoted by S&P DJI, and S&P DJI makes no representation regarding the advisability of investing in such products. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. BrokerTec Americas LLC. ("BAL") is a registered broker-dealer with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, is a member of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc. (https://brokercheck.finra.org/), and is a member of the Securities Investor Protection Corporation (www.SIPC.org). BAL offers products and services in relation to U.S. Treasury Benchmark instruments, Repurchase and Reverse Repurchase instruments. BAL does not provide services to private or retail customers. All investments involve risk of loss, particularly in terms of fluctuations in value and yield. If an investment is denominated in a currency other than your base currency, exchange rate fluctuations may have a favorable or unfavorable impact. Further, there are risks associated with investing in fixed income asset classes that include, but are not limited to, market risk, interest rate risk, default risk, event risk, credit risk, and government security risk.
About FutureSports
Under development since 2022 and launched in 2026, Chicago-based FutureSports has created a proprietary index methodology for measuring on-field, on-ice and on-court performance for a range of professional sporting teams and athletes. Partnering with many of the most recognizable sports leagues and financial market participants, FutureSports transforms live, play-by-play statistical data into rules-based, benchmark indexes that may be referenced by exchange-listed financial products. The indexes are designed to serve the same benchmarking function as the leading equity, commodity and fixed income indexes utilized every day across major global exchanges to track performance and hedge risk in the financial markets. FutureSports administers the indexes independently, with formal governance, oversight and methodology change procedures designed to align with the IOSCO Principles for Financial Benchmarks. For more information, visit www.futuresports.com.
SOURCE CME Group; FutureSports
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