Novig Drops American Odds to Pivot Toward Financial Traders

Novig has scrapped American odds on its sports prediction market, swapping standard -110 lines for financial-style implied probabilities.

Co-founder and CEO Jacob Fortinsky announced the move in a social media post earlier today (Aug. 27), noting the company has introduced an odds calculator to smooth bettors’ and traders’ transition to percentages from the American-style odds that are prevalent on domestic sportsbooks.

Under American odds, most lined games (there are plenty of exceptions) are -110 on the favorite (bet $110 to win $100) and +110 (bet $100 to win $110).

On Novig, -110 American odds convert to a percentage of 52.4%, but a bettor or trader that pays $110 for an event contract on the platform and wins still garners a total payout of $210 ($110 for bet and $100 in winnings).

Novig’s decision to move to percentages over American odds comes weeks after the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) — prediction markets’ federal regulator — told all-or-nothing exchanges to halt usage of American odds as a price quoting methodology for sports derivatives.

Financial Market Feel

While American odds are the bedrock of traditional sports wagering in the U.S., percentages are the math on which global financial markets, including cryptocurrency, equities and fixed income, turn. Fortinsky highlighted the importance of percentages in his X post.

While percentages may not be native for sports fans today, moving away from sportsbook-style odds is another step toward building a product that looks like what it is: a financial market,” observed the Novig boss.

Novig started as a sports-focused peer-to-peer exchange, so pricing odds in percentages isn’t a heavy lift for the operator. After all, traditional financial markets quote gains and losses for scores of asset classes in percentages.

Established prediction markets have long priced event contracts in percentages rather than American odds. Standardizing around probabilities could help the industry attract institutional investors and professional traders who operate exclusively in percentage-based models.

Novig Was Already Making Waves

The move to percentages away from American odds isn’t the only example of Novig making a splash as of late.

Earlier this month, the company rolled out its sports prediction market on a nationwide basis and in short order, is rapidly proving itself to be a formidable competitor in the fast-growing prediction market arena.

As Casino.org reported earlier this week, average daily volume on Novig’s sports-first exchange is already surpassing some established, well-known competitors, such as DraftKings’ DKeX, Rothera and Underdog.

Novig is gearing up for a major customer acquisition push as the college football season kicks off this weekend. CEO Jacob Fortinsky recently confirmed the aggressive expansion strategy, aiming to boost brand visibility among sports traders.

If the gamble pays off, trading sports contracts like stocks could quickly become the new baseline for prediction markets.