CME FSPI MLB Club Index Glossary

FutureSports Performance Indexes (FSPI). A family of rules-based benchmarks administered by FutureSports that measure cumulative club performance over a season by converting officially reported league statistics into index points. The CME FSPI MLB Club Indexes are the 30 indexes in that family covering each club (team). Each has a CME index ticker, such as MLBCHC for the CME FSPI MLB Chicago Cubs Index.

Index Administrator. FutureSports, in its capacity as the party responsible for index methodology design, calculation, governance, oversight, and any exercise of discretion under the methodology. Major League Baseball serves only as the official source of underlying performance data and does not participate in index determination, calculation, or methodology governance.

Constituent. A quantifiable performance measure reported in official league data that contributes to the index value, which may be positive, representing an achievement, or negative, representing a setback. The Points Attribution Table for the CME FSPI MLB Club Indexes has 72 numbered entries, 70 constituents plus the two Seasonal Adjustment Factor values.

Statistical Constituent. A constituent based on a specific outcome realized during a single game, such as a single, a double, a home run, a walk, a stolen base, a strikeout, a double play, or a runner left on base, together with the events recorded on the pitching and fielding side of the game, such as hits allowed, walks allowed, pitching strikeouts, and errors.

Milestone Constituent. A constituent based on a threshold or an uncommon event, applied when the condition is met. Game milestones include four or more home runs, twelve or more hits, eight or more runs scored, a club no hitter, and each player with three or more plate appearances who does not reach base. Monthly and season milestones include most hits in a calendar month, most runs scored in the regular season, and most runs allowed in the regular season.

Multiplier. The fixed value assigned to each constituent, which is applied when the league records the event so that the result is added to the index level. A single carries a multiplier of +2.5 and a single allowed carries -2.5. Multipliers are set from historical league data, remain fixed between scheduled reviews, and are not changed during a season.

Points Attribution Table (PAT). The published table in Appendix A of the methodology guide that lists every constituent, its multiplier, and its definition. It is the complete specification of how a game becomes index points.

Base Level. The level of 7,500 at which every index starts each season and to which every index is reset after the season. A new franchise also starts at 7,500 on its first day.

Annual Reset. The return of every index to the Base Level of 7,500 on the Calculation Day falling 32 calendar days after the last game of the World Series. The reset level is first published on that day, and the reset gives every club the same starting point for the new season while preventing drift across seasons.

Seasonal Adjustment Factor (SAF). The factor applied to every statistical constituent and every game milestone. It is 1.0 for regular season games and 1.5 for postseason games, so a postseason home run adds 9 points, compared with 6 in the regular season. Monthly and season milestones are always applied at 1.0, and the World Series Winner milestone of 750 points is applied with the postseason factor, for 1,125 points.

Calculation Day. Every calendar day of the year, including weekends and holidays, since FutureSports calculates and publishes an official index value on every Calculation Day, independent of any exchange's trading calendar.

Intraday Indicative Value. The continuously updated index value published during the day as plays are recorded and as official scoring revisions arrive. It is published on a best efforts basis, is not an official value, and is not restated.

Official Index Close. The official index value for a Calculation Day, published at 9:00 AM Central Time on the following Calculation Day based on final league data marked official before that time. It is rounded to two decimal places at publication and is the official value of the index for that day, which is the value any futures contract referencing the index settles to at expiration under the CME Group contract specifications.

T+1. Shorthand for the publication timing of the Official Index Close, under which the close for day T is published at 9:00 AM Central Time on day T+1. Monthly and season milestones are also applied on a T+1 basis, at 7:00 AM and 8:00 AM Central Time respectively, so that they are included in that morning's close.

Official League Statistics. Statistical data published by Major League Baseball and its authorized data providers, which is the sole source for index calculations, since FutureSports does not maintain secondary or alternate data sources. If official data is unavailable, incomplete, or demonstrably unreliable for a period, the affected values are held out and incorporated on a forward basis once the official data is available and verified.

Amendment to Official Statistics. A correction, revision, or amendment the league issues to statistics previously published for a completed game, such as an official scorer's change of a hit to an error. Each amendment is treated as a discrete statistical event, run through the Points Attribution Table, and included in the next Official Index Close. Amendments are applied forward, which means they do not restate previously published closes and do not revisit milestone determinations already made.

Restatement. A correction to a previously published Official Index Close, limited to errors made by FutureSports in calculating or applying the methodology, subject to a materiality test under which de minimis errors are not adjusted, and operating under a single season correction window. A restatement outside that window requires Product Governance Committee approval, and intraday values are never recalculated.

Comprehensive Index Review (CIR). The review FutureSports performs at the conclusion of each league season covering the methodology, constituents, multiplier values, and calculation processes. It is the scheduled window in which constituent definitions and multipliers are assessed for continued appropriateness. Any change reasonably expected to affect index behavior is a material methodology change.

Index Steering Committee (ISC) and Product Governance Committee (PGC). The two governance bodies that oversee the indexes. The ISC handles day-to-day governance and operational oversight, including error assessments, data contingency procedures, and the implementation of approved changes, and meets at least monthly during the active season. The PGC is the senior body that approves material methodology changes, restatements outside the ordinary window, and index cessation. It includes at least one independent member, meets at least quarterly, and its decisions are binding and final within the governance framework.

IOSCO Principles for Financial Benchmarks. The principles for benchmark administration published by the International Organization of Securities Commissions, covering governance, benchmark quality, methodology quality, and accountability. The FSPI methodology is designed to align with them, and FutureSports publishes an annual IOSCO Statement of Compliance identifying the extent of compliance with each principle and any principle applied proportionately.

Published Documents

Every definition above is drawn from the FSPI MLB Team Index Methodology Guide, the FSPI Index Calculation and Publication Schedule, the FSPI Index Maintenance, Error Management, and Methodology Changes document, the FSPI Index Governance Committee Composition and Operating Procedures, and the FSPI Index Complaint Handling and Resolution Policy, all published on the FutureSports website, and those documents control in the event of any difference. Contract terms such as contract size, expiration, margin, and final settlement procedure belong to the futures contracts and are defined in the CME Group contract specifications and rulebook.

Important Information

This reference is provided for information only and is not an offer, solicitation, or recommendation to buy or sell any futures contract or other financial instrument, nor is it investment advice. The CME FSPI MLB Club Indexes are administered and calculated by FutureSports as Index Administrator under a methodology designed to align with the IOSCO Principles for Financial Benchmarks. Major League Baseball serves only as the official source of underlying performance data, does not participate in index determination, calculation, or methodology governance, and does not sponsor, endorse, or administer the indexes. Any futures contract referencing an index is listed by CME Group under CME Group's own contract specifications and is separate from the index itself. FutureSports does not distribute futures products, is not a broker, futures commission merchant, or exchange, and does not provide investment advice.