From time to time, issuers of exchange traded funds are known to play copycat and that’s happening in the race to launch funds tethered to indexes measuring the performance of NHL teams.
Just days after Volatility Shares filed plans to introduce funds that will essentially be baskets of CME-traded derivatives based on FutureSports Performance Indexes (FSPI), Roundhill Investments unveiled similar plans.
Like its first-moving competitor, Roundhill filed plans with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to introduce ETFs representing all 32 NHL franchises that will hold CME-listed futures tied to the FSPIs. When FutureSports announced plans for its benchmarks on college and professional athletes and teams last month, it noted the gauges use “officially reported, league-approved statistical outcomes.”
If the SEC approves the products, it’s likely that the ETFs from Roundhill and Volatility Shares will function in similar fashion. However, there’s a difference in the filings as Roundhill has proposed tickers for its NHL futures ETFs. Those tickers are “X” with combined with a three-letter identifier associated with the teams. For example, if it comes to life, the Roundhill Vegas Golden Knights ETF will trade under the ticker “XVGK.”
Roundhill Known to Bettors, PM Traders
Known for pushing the envelope in the income-generating and thematic ETF segments, Roundhill is known in betting circles because it’s the company behind the Roundhill Sports Betting & iGaming ETF (NYSE: BETZ), the first ETF to focus exclusively on iGaming and sports wagering equities.
The asset manager was also the first to initiate plans for ETFs that would hold baskets of political event contracts traded on prediction markets. Two competitors followed, but the SEC, citing the need to further evaluate “novel” ETF pitches, has yet to approve any of what amount to be dozens for electoral event contract ETFs.
Interestingly, the political ETFs no longer appear in the “Coming Soon” section of the Roundhill website nor have the proposed NHL funds made their way there as of yet.
That doesn’t necessarily mean much aside from the fact that the SEC is taking its time on the election-based ETFs and that Roundhill’s NHL fund filing is new, which it is.
Timing Issues
The puck drops on the 2026-27 NHL season on Sept. 29 and there’s already related activity on prediction markets, but the season’s start date may be of little concern to the SEC when it comes to approving or rejecting these unique ETFs.
Although the funds aren’t yet live, some ETF experts are joking that two families of hockey ETFs are too much of a good thing. Others are wondering how the funds, if approved, will behave during the offseason when it’s likely futures activity will significantly drop.
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