Oct 8 (Reuters) – Derivatives exchange CME said on Thursday it would launch the world’s first baseball futures.
Here are some more details:
• The contracts will track CME FutureSports Performance Indexes covering statistics from 30 professional baseball teams.
• Trading is set to begin October 12, pending regulatory review, starting with the 2026 postseason and four clubs in the League Championship Series.
• “We see an opportunity to bring investing and hedging discipline to the business of professional baseball,” Tim McCourt, CME’s senior managing director and global head of equities, FX and alternative products, said.
• The derivatives exchange also launched the world’s first index-based hockey futures in August.
• CME partnered with FutureSports in July to develop derivatives linked to professional and college sports, offering an alternative to event-based contracts traded on prediction markets.
• US exchanges and prediction markets have looked to bring popular cultural and emerging economic themes into financial markets, creating new instruments for businesses and investors.
(Reporting by Pragyan Kalita in Bengaluru; Editing by Perla Velasco)
