Novig moves away from sportsbook-style odds

• Novig has eliminated standard 110-line American odds in favor of percentage-based probabilities.
• CEO Jacob Fortinsky confirmed the shift in a post on X, tying it to financial market pricing.
• The change follows a CFTC directive telling prediction markets to drop sportsbook-style odds formats.

Novig, the peer-to-peer sports prediction platform, has stopped offering American-style betting odds, replacing them with percentage-based probabilities modeled on financial markets.

Co-founder and CEO Jacob Fortinsky confirmed the change in a post on X yesterday on August 27, tying the move to Novig’s identity as a financial exchange rather than a sportsbook.

Same bet, different label

Fortinsky told users that Novig will no longer offer standard 110-line odds, the format long used across US sportsbooks. In its place, Novig now prices every outcome as an implied probability, the convention used across equities, fixed income and other financial markets.

Payouts stay the same; only the display changes. Under the old 110-line model, an outcome priced at -110 was the favorite and +110 marked the underdog. Betting $110 on the former or $100 on the latter both returned a $210 total payout.

Novig’s Odds Calculator converts that same -110 line into a 52.4% implied probability, with +110 becoming 47.6%.

Jacob Fortinsky, co-founder and CEO of Novig, wrote on X:

“American odds are no longer available on Novig. 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.

“We are committed to making the transition seamless for our members. If you’re used to American odds, our team built a tool to help make the switch.”

Chasing derivatives status

Novig’s decision lands weeks after the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the federal regulator that treats prediction markets as derivatives exchanges, warned operators against quoting event-contract prices in American odds format.

In a joint letter, the agency’s Division of Market Oversight and Market Participants Division said sportsbook-style pricing risks misleading users about the nature of the product.

The CFTC wants prices shown in nominal or percentage terms that reflect market-generated value, and the letter cited research suggesting the plus-minus format pushes users toward more risk-taking than the same price shown as a probability.

The whole sector under pressure

Novig is not alone in adjusting to the new expectations. Major sportsbook operators including DraftKings, Fanatics and FanDuel recently pressed the CFTC for consistent consumer protection rules as their own prediction market products expand. Kalshi has said it will comply with the CFTC’s odds directive by its stated deadline.

The percentage-first framing also plays well with an audience that increasingly overlaps with finance. A recent survey found that a quarter of Morgan Stanley’s summer interns had used betting or prediction market apps in the past year.

Novig, which raised a $75 million Series B round earlier this year, operates through Ludlow Exchange, the entity the CFTC designated a Designated Contract Market on June 16. That designation underpins Novig’s nationwide relaunch on August 4 as a commission-free, peer-to-peer alternative to traditional sportsbooks. It’s also the basis of the company’s ongoing lawsuits against New York, Massachusetts, Washington, New Mexico and Wisconsin over state gambling enforcement.

Percentage pricing alone will not settle whether Novig or its rivals count as derivatives exchanges or sportsbooks in the eyes of state regulators, several of whom are already in court over that exact question. It does remove one of the CFTC’s stated objections, giving Novig a cleaner argument the next time a state tries to treat its contracts like a bet slip.