Sports prediction market operator Novig has removed traditional American-style odds from its platform and switched to percentage-based pricing, bringing its interface closer to the format used by financial and prediction markets.
The change was announced by Novig co-founder and CEO Jacob Fortinsky on August 27. Instead of displaying familiar sportsbook prices such as -110 or +200, Novig now shows the implied probability of an outcome as a percentage. The company has also introduced an online odds calculator to help users convert between percentage, American, decimal and fractional formats.
Under Novig’s system, a market priced at 52.4% corresponds to American odds of approximately -110. A 50% price is equivalent to +100, while 33.3% corresponds to about +200. Novig says the percentage represents the market’s implied probability of an outcome and can be used directly to calculate potential returns.
Fortinsky said the move is intended to make Novig’s product more clearly resemble a financial marketplace rather than a conventional sportsbook. The platform operates as a peer-to-peer exchange, matching participants against one another instead of acting as the house on the opposite side of a wager.
The timing also follows new guidance from the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission. On August 7, the regulator reminded CFTC-regulated entities offering event contracts that their pricing displays must accurately reflect the nature of the products being traded.
The CFTC specifically warned that presenting event-contract prices using American gambling odds could mislead customers about the transaction and obscure information relating to market depth and pricing impact. It urged regulated platforms to use displays that make clear users are trading event contracts on an exchange rather than placing bets through a traditional bookmaker.
The distinction has become increasingly important as prediction markets expand deeper into sports. Operators argue that their event contracts are federally regulated derivatives, while several state authorities maintain that sports-related contracts amount to gambling and should fall under state betting laws.
Novig is currently involved in that wider legal dispute. Its operating entity, Ludlow Exchange LLC, filed a federal lawsuit against Wisconsin officials in August seeking to prevent the state from applying its gambling laws to Novig’s sports event contracts. The company argues that such contracts fall under the Commodity Exchange Act and the CFTC’s federal jurisdiction.
Wisconsin is one of several states Novig has challenged since expanding its sports prediction market offering. The company has also brought legal actions involving Massachusetts, New Mexico, New York and Washington as the industry continues to contest where federal derivatives regulation ends and state gambling authority begins.
For Novig, eliminating American odds therefore represents more than a cosmetic redesign. The percentage format strengthens the platform’s presentation as an exchange-based financial market at a time when both federal regulators and state authorities are paying closer attention to how sports prediction products are marketed and structured.