Skip the Super Bowl Parlay. These ETFs Offer a Way to Invest in Sports

Super Bowl Sunday is just around the corner, and although many Americans will try their luck via the widening world of sports betting, there are some more traditional options for the avid sports fan. 

Exchange-traded funds like Invesco’s Leisure and Entertainment ETF (PEJ) and Gabelli’s Opportunities in Live and Sports ETF (GOLS), which launched last month, give investors exposure to the world of live sports, whether it’s by investing in venues like Madison Square Garden or holding entertainment companies like Live Nation Entertainment, which owns Ticketmaster. Sports investments can also be helpful for advisors looking to cater to a younger generation of clients.

“There’s definitely interest in investing around sports, especially among our Gen Z clients who are earning [a] good income early,” said Joon Um, a financial planner with Secure Tax & Accounting. “Many of them [are] in the social media and creator space, which already overlaps with entertainment and live sports.”

Any Given Sunday

GOLS, which has garnered $12 million since its launch last month, isn’t Gabelli’s first foray into the world of live sports — having already been a shareholder of Madison Square Garden — but it is the firm’s first sports-focused strategy, said Alec Boccanfuso, portfolio manager of the fund. It also offers investors exposure to specific teams, like the Atlanta Braves, the only publicly traded Major League Baseball team. “A lot of people assume the sports fund will only own pieces of sport teams, but there’s the whole ecosystem,” Boccanfuso said. “There’s sports technology companies out there, media companies, real estate assets,” he added. “We think the whole industry is attractive.”

Whether events like the Super Bowl actually impact these products’ performance is another story. While Boccanfuso expects a boost from the event — he said it will drive up the stock of ESPN, which last week acquired the National Football League’s RedZone channel — Um said it’s inconsequential. “Exposure is usually indirect, and the Super Bowl itself doesn’t meaningfully move sports ETFs beyond short-term hype.”

The performances of ETFs with exposure to the sports industry as a whole are mostly down so far this year:

• The Invesco’s Leisure and Entertainment ETF (PEJ), which is down 2% YTD.
• The Roundhill Sports Betting & iGaming ETF (BETZ), which is down 14% YTD.

Wide Reception: However, the Super Bowl can still influence other areas of sports investing. The Seahawks may get sold after this season, which would reset valuations across the NFL — the last full team sale was the Washington Commanders, at about $6 billion — and drive up sports-adjacent companies’ stocks.

“What we’re going to see is a Super Bowl-caliber franchise theoretically coming to market,” Boccanfuso said. “This would be a real test of how much investors are willing to pay for scarcity, brand power and live fan engagement.”