What is ATS in Sports Betting?

ATS Explained in Detail

A team's ATS record tells a completely different story than their straight-up record. A team can be 12-0 on the season but only 6-6 ATS if they consistently win by fewer points than the spread. Conversely, a 6-6 team can be 10-2 ATS if they consistently play closer games than the market expects.

ATS records are more useful for bettors than win-loss records because they account for the market's expectations. A team that wins every game but never covers the spread is not a profitable bet. The spread already prices in how much better one team is, so the ATS record measures whether the market is correctly assessing the gap between teams.

Bettors often look at ATS records in specific situations to find profitable trends. A team might be 2-8 ATS as a favorite but 7-3 ATS as an underdog. Or a team might be 9-1 ATS at home but 3-7 ATS on the road. These situational splits can reveal when the market is consistently mispricing a team.

It is important to remember that ATS records over small samples can be misleading. A team that is 4-0 ATS over four games might simply be running hot. Reliable ATS trends require larger sample sizes, typically 30 or more games, to be statistically meaningful. Even then, past ATS performance does not guarantee future results because line-setters adjust.