CH’s Stock Market Performance: A Possibility in Two Months

Félix Forget
CH’s Stock Market Performance: A Possibility in Two Months
Credit: Mark LoMoglio/NHLI via Getty Images

In recent years, gambling and sports betting have become much more accepted in the world of professional sports. It would have seemed impossible a decade ago, but today it's hard to watch a game without hearing about sports betting opportunities.

And that's not even counting the fact that leagues and teams sometimes have partnerships with such platforms themselves.

But the NHL could take things to a whole new level in about two months: the company Volatility Shares is looking to take all 32 NHL teams public.

Except we're not talking about team stock here: rather, the plan is to offer a derivative product in which people could invest, with a stock index that would fluctuate based on the team's performance. So, essentially, it would be pure speculation, because investing in it offers nothing concrete in financial terms.

Nicolas Cloutier (TVA Sports) wrote an excellent piece on the subject.

In practical terms, when you look at it, you realize that it resembles a new form of gambling more than it does stock ownership. It's not unlike sports betting and prediction platforms, after all.

There is a difference in that this particular project wouldn't have a “right” or “wrong” answer (as with sports betting) and that the evaluation is more nuanced. But even so, we're talking about investing in a team's performance: that amounts to a form of gambling.

It's worth noting that the project—which must be approved by U.S. authorities—states that each team's index value will be tied to 55 pre-established performance metrics. All teams would start with a value of 7,500, which would be adjusted based on those metrics.

And let's not forget that no other league is pursuing such a project: the NHL would be the first… and if it works, expect other leagues to follow suit, of course.


In Brief

– News about Vladimir Guerrero Jr.

– Too bad.

– Note this.

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