Against the spread (ATS) betting is a type of wager commonly used in sports, particularly in football, where a point spread is applied to even out the odds between two teams of differing skill levels.

Here’s how it works:

Point Spread:

The sportsbook sets a spread, or margin of victory, that the favored team must win by for a bet on them to pay off. The underdog can lose by fewer points than the spread or win the game outright for a bet on them to succeed.

Let’s look at an example:

• Team A is favored to win by -6.5 points against Team B.

• If you bet on Team B, they must either win the game outright or lose by 6 or fewer points for your bet to win.

Covering the Spread:

If the favorite wins by more than the spread (e.g., Team A wins by 7 or more points in the above example), they are said to have “covered the spread” and a bet on that team will win.