CME expands sports derivatives push with baseball futures

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)

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