Also called: spread, handicap, line.
A margin applied to the favourite to make both sides roughly equally likely. Betting a -6.5 favourite means it must win by 7 or more for the bet to win.
A point spread gives one team a handicap so that both sides of a matchup can be offered at similar prices. A favorite at -6.5 must win by seven or more points for a spread bet on that team to win. The underdog at +6.5 can lose by six or fewer points, or win the game outright, for its bet to win.
The number is applied to the final score after the game is complete. If a favorite wins 27-21, it covers a -5.5 spread but does not cover -6.5. Half-points are often used to prevent a tie, which is called a push. A whole-number spread such as -7 can push when the favorite wins by exactly seven, and the stake is normally returned under the sportsbook's rules.
A spread has two parts: the number of points and the price attached to each side. Moving from -6.5 to -7 changes the outcome required to win; moving from -110 to -105 changes the cost of taking the same outcome. Both affect whether a bet makes sense, so comparing only the team name or only the payout misses part of the decision.
Sportsbooks can respond to demand by changing the price, the spread, or both. One book may offer a team at -3 with a higher cost while another offers -2.5 at a different price. The better option depends on the probability of each final margin, not on a rule that one format is always preferable.
In sports where scoring comes in common increments, some winning margins occur more often than others. In NFL betting, three and seven are widely watched because field goals and touchdowns make those margins frequent. Crossing one of those numbers can be more meaningful than a move of the same size elsewhere on the board.
Key numbers are not guarantees, and their importance changes with rules, scoring patterns, and the market. They are a reason to compare the exact spread at multiple books before betting, rather than evidence that any price around a familiar number is automatically good.
First identify the exact result required for the ticket to win, lose, or push. Next compare the spread and price across books. Then estimate whether the offered price is better or worse than the probability implied by the market after accounting for the sportsbook's fee. This keeps the focus on the number actually available, not a headline prediction about which team is better.
Record the line taken and where the market closes. Over a meaningful sample, that is a more useful review than judging a spread only by one final score. VigWatch's moneyline, spread, and total lesson explains the three main market types, and the calculators can translate odds into the probabilities needed to compare a price.
See also: Cover, Hook, Push, Key number, Laying points