Against the Spread, or ATS, is a sports betting term that shows how a team or a bet performs relative to the bookmaker’s spread, rather than simply by whether the game was won or lost.

The point here is that it is not enough just to win the match. It is also important to beat the line that was set. For example, if the favorite is listed at -7.5, it needs to win by at least 8 points. If the other team gets +7.5, a bet on that side still wins even if the team loses, as long as the margin is smaller than that.

That is why ATS is used not only for the bet itself, but also for team statistics. A team may win games often but still look weak against the spread, meaning it regularly fails to cover. The opposite can happen too: a team loses on the scoreboard but stays within the line and produces a strong ATS record.

This term appears most often in basketball and American football, where the point margin matters a lot in bet settlement.