Building a 'sportfolio'

Those who are fuzzy about how the stock market works can now learn the fundamentals of investing by relating it to sports. On Oct. 1, OneSeason.com launched a sports trading platform that has users build a "sportfolio" of investments in athletes, teams, leagues and coaches. The investments are all user-driven by supply and demand, and shares called "synthetic ownership interests" are traded based on factors such as game performance, off-field activity, endorsement deals and legacy prospects. SOI prices range from just 50 cents to $20. For example in early afternoon trading last Tuesday, New York Jets quarterback Brett Favre, who trades under the ticker symbol FAVR, was available for $6.39. San Francisco-based OneSeason.com is the brainchild of its chief executive, Mike Sroka, who was an outside linebacker at Southern Methodist University in Dallas before entering the investment world. He previously worked for Dallas-based hedge fund Kalydus Asset Advisors LP and persuaded its founding partner, Phillip Drayer, to help finance the sports stock market venture. "I dreamed about this in economics class," Mr. Sroka said. "This is kind of like my dream job." Money for the investments is paid via PayPal or credit cards with funds redeemed to users by check. OneSeason.com generates revenue by volume since it makes 1% of each trade and also earns interest on money it holds. The site issues initial player offerings for popular athletes and teams across the four major U.S. sports of football, baseball, basketball and hockey. More sports are expected to be added in the near future, and trading occurs year round, unlike fantasy sports sites that operate only a few months a year during their respective seasons. The sports trading platform also provides licensed and user-generated content such as the latest sports news, data and statistics, much like a financial site would have. "It's kind of like the Bloomberg for sports," Mr. Sroka said.