In my three decades of managing money, if there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that “complexity” is often just a fancy word for “we’re charging you more to take a different kind of risk.” But every so often, a new ticker hits the tape that actually tries to solve a real-world portfolio problem.
Enter the Gabelli Sports and Live Entertainment ETF (GOLS).
GOLS isn’t just a play on your favorite local sports team; it’s a bet on what they call the “Experience Economy.” Here’s how they describe this new offering on Gabelli.com:
GOLS invests across the full spectrum of the sports ecosystem, from publicly traded team ownership structures and global football clubs to entertainment operators, sports media distributors, athletic brands, and technology / data providers enabling fan engagement. Guided by Gabelli’s Private Market Value with a Catalyst™ investment philosophy and supported by decades of industry research and insights, the portfolio focuses on companies with durable assets, resilient revenue streams, and identifiable catalysts that may help unlock long-term value.
In an era where AI is threatening to automate everything from your grocery list to your legal briefs, you still can’t “digitize” the feeling of being in a stadium with 50,000 screaming fans.
What’s the Play?
From a tactical standpoint, I see three things that pique my interest:
- Low Correlation: These stocks don’t always dance to the same tune as Big Tech or the S&P 500.
- Pricing Power: When the Swifties of the world want a ticket, they pay. That’s a moat you can’t easily bridge.
- The “Anti-AI” Hedge: You can’t replicate a live concert with an algorithm (at least not yet).
The fund’s expense ratio is 0.9%, or $90 on an initial $10,000 investment, but Gabelli is waiving it for the first year. That’s a nice “teaser rate,” but as a risk manager, I’m looking at the liquidity and the concentration. It’s a global mandate, meaning you’re getting exposure to international soccer clubs and European entertainment giants alongside U.S. mainstays.
Since GOLS only started trading on Jan. 6, 2026, the price history is still “new car smell” fresh.
The Starting Lineup
Gabelli is playing a concentrated game here. The fund’s performance is going to be driven by a few heavy hitters in the “Live” space. Now, I’m a “chart-first, questions-later” kind of guy, but this one doesn’t have a public track record yet. But we can look under the ETF hood to see what’s there. Here are a couple of top holdings.
Liberty Media (FWONK): This is not a great-looking chart, but there will be times when this whole theme will fade for a while. Like whenever the market is concerned about consumer spending.
Madison Square Garden Sports Corp (MSGS): The chart looks vulnerable as well, but from a different angle. That’s a nice runup since August. But I’m dismissing it technically as a hot streak. So let’s look at one more and see if we go for the “3-peat” on rough-looking charts, or find a blue-chip prospect.
Live Nation Entertainment (LYV) looks better than the others, but as they say about a top player on a poor team, “we finished last with you, we can finish last without you.”
Game Changer? We’re Still in the Early Innings.
If there is a lower-correlation play here, it will be a game-changer for some of us. I keep lamenting the fact that markets are so much in sync.
I’m not looking these days so much for “what will go up now” but rather “what can go up when the stock market doesn’t.” Other than inverse and volatility ETFs. Something in the equity world that is less correlated will stand out.
Rob Isbitts, founder of Sungarden Investment Publishing, is a semi-retired chief investment officer. For more of Rob’s research and investor coaching work, see ETFYourself.com on Substack. To copy-trade Rob’s portfolios, check out the new Pi Trade app.
