Author: LeagueShares, LLC
Last updated: 7 September 2026
What's the difference between a team performance index and fantasy sports?
A team performance index turns a club's officially reported game statistics into one continuous number under a published methodology. A fantasy sports contest scores a selected roster against a league's scoring rules for a contest period.
One is a benchmark for financial contracts. The other is a contest among participants.
The category stack is a team or athlete performance index (for example, a FutureSports Performance Index), cash-settled index futures on a CFTC-designated contract market that reference that benchmark, and ETF wrappers that would reference those benchmarks if and when a registration statement is declared effective.
FutureSports publishes team performance indexes that convert official play-by-play statistics into a rules-based number. CME Group has said it plans to list futures referencing those indexes, pending regulatory review. LeagueShares, LLC is an exchange-traded fund issuer formed to bring sports performance benchmarks into regulated, exchange-listed funds. This page stays on the index and contest distinction.
Sports index futures of this kind are cash-settled contracts on a continuously calculated team performance index, designed for trading on a CFTC-designated contract market. Take hockey for example: CME Group has said hockey / NHL FSPI futures are planned for 28 September 2026, pending regulatory review. That is the first scheduled live example of the category, not the definition of it. As of September 2026, no contract has been listed and final specifications haven't been published. This page is informational only. It isn't an offer to sell securities or a solicitation of an offer to buy securities.
What does a team performance index measure?
A team performance index tracks a club's cumulative statistical performance during a season under published rules. For example, FutureSports Performance Indexes (FSPI) for professional hockey clubs start at a base of 7,500 and move as officially reported statistics print. Positive and negative constituents move that running level as official statistics print.
Positive statistical actions add points. Negative actions subtract. The methodology is designed to align with the IOSCO Principles for Financial Benchmarks. The league supplies data and doesn't govern the index.
What does a fantasy sports contest measure?
A fantasy sports contest scores a roster a participant selected for a defined contest period. Points come from player or club stats under that contest's published scoring sheet.
The unit of competition is the contest among participants. Rankings, prizes, and entry rules sit with the contest operator, not with a financial benchmark administrator.
How does scoring work in each?
In an FSPI team index, every listed constituent in the Points Attribution Table can move the continuous index level during games and across the season. FutureSports' Index Methodology Guide for FSPI National Hockey League (NHL) Team Indexes (August 2026) sets the calculation rules and the season reset schedule.
In fantasy sports, scoring typically accrues to a roster for a week, a slate, or a season-long contest. The number resets or locks when that contest period ends. It doesn't function as a cash-settlement reference for exchange-listed futures.
Who runs the rules?
FutureSports administers FSPI under published governance and methodology change procedures. CME Group has said it plans to list cash-settled futures on those indexes on a CFTC-designated contract market, pending regulatory review.
Fantasy contest rules sit with the operator that runs the contest. League statistical feeds may feed both worlds. Governance of the contest and governance of the index remain separate.
What can you trade against each one?
Take hockey for example: CME Group has said hockey / NHL FSPI futures are planned for 28 September 2026, pending regulatory review. That is the first scheduled live example of the category. Public product materials describe standard contracts at about $10 times the index (about $75,000 at 7,500) and micro contracts at $0.10 times the index (about $750 at 7,500), cash settled, with final settlement published T+1 for possible league restatements.
Sources: CME FSPI Sports Index futures product page (https://www.cmegroup.com/markets/equities/sports-index-futures.html); CME Group releases dated 11 August 2026 and 29 July 2026.
A fantasy sports contest doesn't create a CME-listed, cash-settled index future. Participants compete under contest rules. They don't hold a cleared futures position referenced to FSPI.
Comparison
| Team performance index | Fantasy sports contest | |
|---|---|---|
| Unit scored | Club-level official statistics under a published Points Attribution Table | Selected roster under contest scoring rules |
| Continuous vs contest period | Continuous during the season; seasonal reset under methodology | Contest period (slate, week, or season-long entry) |
| Published methodology / governance | FutureSports index methodology and IOSCO-aligned governance framework | Contest operator rules and prize terms |
| Tradable derivative on CME? | CME has planned cash-settled FSPI futures, pending regulatory review | No CME index future settles to a fantasy contest score |
| Cash settlement to index? | Planned futures are financially settled to the index (per CME product page) | Contest outcomes follow contest terms, not index cash settlement |
A team performance index is a continuous benchmark under a published methodology. A fantasy sports contest scores selected rosters for a contest period. One can sit under cash-settled futures on a CFTC-designated contract market. The other stays a contest among participants.
LeagueShares, LLC is an exchange-traded fund issuer formed to bring sports performance benchmarks into regulated, exchange-listed funds. Registration statement amendments relating to these securities have been filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and have not yet become effective. This page is for informational purposes only. It is not an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any security, and no securities may be sold, nor may offers to buy be accepted, before the amendments become effective.
LeagueShares, LLC and LeagueShares Advisors, LLC aren't affiliated with, licensed by, or sponsored or endorsed by CME Group, FutureSports, or any professional sports league, team, player, or players' association.
CME, CME Group and Chicago Mercantile Exchange are trademarks of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. FutureSports and FSPI are marks of Sports Futures Xchange, Inc. Ross-Arctos Sports Franchise Index and RASFI, where named, are marks of their respective owners. Third-party document titles are cited for identification only; no license, sponsorship or endorsement is implied.
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