A Company Wants to Let You Invest in NHL Teams Through the Stock Market
Volatility Shares Trust has filed paperwork with the SEC to launch 32 new ETFs — one for each NHL team — that would let people invest based on how teams perform on the ice (Casino.org). The filing, submitted on Form 485A, says each fund would invest in futures contracts tied to individual team outcomes, traded on the CME exchange (SEC Filing). If approved, investors could buy and sell these funds on the stock market without owning any piece of the actual team or its revenue.
A futures contract is an agreement to bet on the price of something at a later date. In this case, the "something" is a team's performance. So these ETFs would not hold shares of a hockey franchise. They would hold derivatives — financial tools whose value comes from something else. That makes them more like commodity funds, which track things like oil or gold, than like stock funds that hold company shares.
This structure comes with certain costs and risks. When a futures contract expires, the fund has to replace it with a new one, which can add costs. Depending on how futures prices are shaped, the fund can lose value just from rolling contracts over time. The SEC filing does not detail contract specifications, settlement methodology, or expense ratios beyond the broad investment mandate described in the registration statement.
The NHL filing is part of a wider pipeline of sports-betting ETFs. Tidal Trust I filed a registration statement on July 9, 2026 to add two new series: the Subversive Prediction ETF and the Subversive All Season Sports ETF (SEC Filing). Separately, IBET, an actively managed fund focused on sports betting and gaming activities, filed a Form 485A registration statement under EDGAR accession 000089418921006171 (SEC Filing). The Roundhill Sports Betting & iGaming ETF, a series of the Listed Funds Trust, had its registration materials filed in Post-Effective Amendment No. 24 to the trust's statement (SEC Filing), with earlier incorporation into a Form N-1A registration dating to May 29, 2020 (SEC Filing).
The betting industry is also spending heavily on politics. DraftKings, FanDuel, and other online sports betting companies have ramped up spending on the U.S. midterm elections to at least $72 million, according to Reuters (Reuters). That level of spending signals operators want laws and regulations that allow more betting markets, which could grow the audience for sports-linked financial products.
At the same time, betting companies are facing tighter margins. Dave Mazza of Roundhill Investments noted in Reuters coverage that some gambling companies are feeling squeezed as bettor-friendly results compress their margins (Reuters). When bettors win more often than the sportsbook expected, the hold rate — the share of total bets the company keeps — drops. The filing does not address any commercial relationship between Volatility Shares and NHL franchises or betting operators.
The broader picture is that sports betting and financial markets are moving closer together. Since a 2018 Supreme Court ruling allowed states to legalize sports wagering, the betting industry has grown into a large commercial sector with public companies, derivatives, and now potential exchange-traded products. A team-level futures ETF, if approved, would sit between a pure sports bet and a traditional stock investment.
None of the filings referenced have received SEC effectiveness. Registration statements on Form 485A start the review process but do not allow the products to launch. The timeline for SEC determination will depend on comment periods, potential amendments, and the commission's assessment of the novel structure. Until effectiveness is granted, these products remain proposals.
