March Madness, the much-anticipated, popular college basketball sporting event in the US, is here. The NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament means excitement for fans of scores of teams. As we prepare to publish on Mar. 14, the tournament seedings have been set.
Wall Street will also be watching the event, with an eye on shares of companies that could benefit from March Madness. After all, sponsors allocate large sums to advertise during the games. Meanwhile, hours of streaming footage put media businesses in the limelight. Leisure and entertainment firms also benefit, especially from increased spending on food, travel, and lodging—from both fans and the competing teams.
Last but not least, around $10 billion will be bet on the games. However, according to the American Gaming Association (AGA), only 3%, or about $300 million, “will be wagered legally through Nevada sports books.” Still, AGA expects March Madness 2023 will see a larger percentage of Americans betting legally.
Therefore, today’s article introduces two exchange-traded funds (ETFs) that might appeal to readers who believe a number of industries could be winners during the tournament, regardless of which team attains the ultimate crown in early April.
1. iShares Evolved U.S. Media and Entertainment ETF
- Current Price: $30.21
- 52-week range: $30.21 - $42.87
- Dividend yield: 1.24%
- Expense ratio: 0.18% per year
Recent metrics highlight that with a value of well over $700 billion, the US Media and Entertainment sector accounts for a third of global revenues. Our first fund, the iShares Evolved U.S. Media and Entertainment ETF (NYSE:IEME), invests in U.S. media and entertainment companies. The fund was first listed in March 2018.
IEME, which has 92 holdings, is actively managed. The top 10 holdings account for close to 45% of net assets of $15.4 billion. With regard to sub-sectors, we see media & entertainment (85.77%), consumer services (3.99%), and consumer durables (3.08%).
Leading stocks include media giants Fox (NASDAQ:FOXA), Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA), Paramount Global (NASDAQ:PARA), Walt Disney (NYSE:DIS), Activision Blizzard (NASDAQ:ATVI), Charter Communications (NASDAQ:CHTR), Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX), and Electronic Arts (NASDAQ:EA), among others.
In the past 12 months, IEME is down over 28% and hit a multi-year low on Mar. 11. The fund has lost about 10% of its value since January.
Trailing P/E and P/B ratios are 12.26x and 2.18x. Contrarian investors who regard the recent drop in the price of IEME could consider investing around these levels.
2. iBET Sports Betting & Gaming ETF
- Current Price: $10.42
- 52-week range: $10.04-$15.01
- Dividend yield: 1.14%
- Expense ratio: 0.79% per year
Our next fund, the iBET Sports Betting & Gaming ETF (NASDAQ:IBET) offers exposure to global names benefiting from sports betting and gaming. Since its inception in November 2021, assets under management have reached $416.5 million.
IBET has 38 holdings, where the leading 10 comprise three-quarters of the portfolio. These names come from technology, communication services, consumer cyclical, and real estate sectors.
Among the top companies in the fund are the casino operator Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS), which now solely focuses on operations in Macao and Singapore; Flutter Entertainment (OTC:PDYPY), which operates online casinos and sports betting websites, such as FanDuel; Sweden-based Evolution AB (OTC:EVVTY); Kambi Group (ST:KAMBI); which owns gaming and racing properties; and Penn National Gaming (NASDAQ:PENN).
Year-to-date, IBET lost 20% of its value and saw a record low in recent days. Growth shares with frothy valuations have come under pressure so far in 2022. As a result, investors have hit the ‘sell’ button on many names in IBET.
However, industry analysts are optimistic about the sector. As live sports events increasingly start taking place, sports betting is likely to increase. Meanwhile, traveling should gather pace, contributing to revenues at integrated resorts like LVS or its peers.
For instance, research by Grand View Research suggests the “Global Online Gambling Market Size Expected To Reach $127 Billion By 2027.” Such an increase in revenue would mean a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 11.5% between 2020-2027.
Therefore, interested readers with a two- to three-year horizon could consider buying the dip in IBET.