# How much moneyline prices differ across sportsbooks

> We measured how far apart sportsbooks price the same moneyline. In the NFL, NBA, NHL and college football, the best price pays 7% to 8% more than the worst.

Published 2026-11-01. Updated 2026-11-01. Canonical: https://therundown.io/blog/moneyline-price-differences

The best moneyline price on a game usually pays **7% to 8% more** than the worst one. We measured it on 289 open main-line moneyline sides across the NFL, NBA, NHL and college football, using the same prices the [odds API](/odds-api) returns.

## What we found

| League | Sides measured | Books per side (median) | Best vs worst payout (median) | Gap at the 90th percentile | Sides with a gap over 5% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NFL | 26 | 25 | 7.5% | 16.0% | 68% |
| NBA | 22 | 25 | 8.2% | 18.9% | 78% |
| NHL | 38 | 25 | 7.0% | 12.3% | 81% |
| College football | 203 | 10.5 | 8.4% | 21.1% | 84% |

- On a $100 bet that pays out $190 at the worst book, a 7.5% better price (the NFL median) returns about $204.25 at the best one.
- College football has the widest tail. Smaller games draw fewer books, and their prices disagree more.
- The gap compares prices on the same side of the same game, at the same moment.

## How we measured it

- **Source of prices:** open main-line moneyline prices for every book returned by TheRundown odds API at the snapshot time, including prediction markets priced in American odds. Closed prices are excluded.
- **Which sides count:** pre-match games only. A side is included when at least five books post an open price. Prices outside -5000 to +5000 are dropped as non-actionable.
- **Payout gap:** each American price is converted to a decimal payout. The gap is best payout divided by worst payout, minus one.
- **Timing:** 4 snapshots between Oct 30 and Nov 1, 2026, each covering games in the next three days. A side seen in several snapshots counts once per snapshot; medians are taken across all of those measurements.
- **Limits:** a snapshot is not a guarantee a price was bettable at that size. Books change prices quickly, and some limit or restrict accounts.

## What this means if you build with odds

A tool that shows one book's price can understate the best available payout by several percent. Requesting several books in one call, as in the [sports odds API guide](/sports-odds-api), lets you show the best open price per side and how far the others trail.

## Questions

### How much does line shopping change a moneyline payout?

Across our snapshots of open main-line moneylines, the best price paid 7% to 8% more than the worst price on the same side at the median, depending on the league. On most sides the gap was over 5%.

### How many sportsbooks price the same NFL moneyline?

Across our snapshots, a median of 25 books posted an open price on each NFL moneyline side, 25 on NBA sides and 25 on NHL sides. College football had a median of 10.5, because smaller games draw fewer books.

### Does a bigger price gap mean an arbitrage?

Not on its own. An arbitrage needs the best prices on every outcome to imply less than 100% combined, and the gap here compares prices on one side only. Limits, rules and timing also matter.