Money, Betting Lines, Markets
Odds formats, market types, and how market structures vary by sport archetype across the ALT Sports Data API.
Money, Betting Lines, Markets
Alternative sports do not share a single market menu. A combat sport like MMA has a fundamentally different betting structure than a racing series or a jai alai match. The ALT Sports Data API reflects this reality -- market availability is driven by the sport's archetype, and your integration should be too.
This page explains the odds formats the API returns, the market families you will encounter, and how each sport archetype shapes the markets available.
Odds formats
The API returns odds in American format (also called moneyline format) as the primary representation. Here is how to read them:
| Odds value | Meaning | Payout on a $100 bet |
|---|---|---|
| -150 | Favored. Risk $150 to win $100. | $100 profit + $150 stake returned |
| +200 | Underdog. Risk $100 to win $200. | $200 profit + $100 stake returned |
| -110 | Near even. Slight favorite. | $90.91 profit + $110 stake returned |
| +100 | Even money. | $100 profit + $100 stake returned |
Conversion reference:
- American to decimal: For positive odds,
(odds / 100) + 1. For negative odds,(100 / abs(odds)) + 1. - American to fractional: For positive odds,
odds / 100. For negative odds,100 / abs(odds).
The API consistently returns American odds. If your product displays decimal or fractional odds, convert client-side.
Market families
Markets fall into several families that recur across sports, though not every family applies to every sport.
Moneyline / head-to-head
The simplest market: pick the winner. One side is typically favored (negative odds), the other is the underdog (positive odds). Available for almost every sport, though the structure varies -- a combat sport moneyline has exactly two sides, while a racing moneyline might have a field of 10+.
Totals (over/under)
A line is set on a numeric outcome (total rounds, total points, total laps), and bettors pick over or under. Available when the sport has a countable outcome that varies enough to set a meaningful line.
Spreads / handicaps
One side is given a points or rounds advantage. Less common in alternative sports than in mainstream team sports, but available for some team-based and point-scored formats.
Props (participant and event)
Proposition bets tied to specific outcomes within an event. Examples: method of victory (KO, submission, decision), fastest lap, first to score. Props are heavily archetype-dependent -- combat sports have rich method-of-victory props, while racing sports have position and lap-based props.
Futures and outrights
Long-range markets on season or tournament outcomes: who wins the championship, who finishes top-3 in the series standings, which team is promoted. These are available for sports with season-long or tournament-long competitive arcs.
Podium, placement, and exacta-style
Markets on finishing position rather than outright winning. Common in racing and multi-participant formats: top-3 finish, exacta (first and second in order), trifecta, and similar combinations.
Markets by sport archetype
Each sport in the API is assigned an archetype. The archetype determines which market families are relevant and how they behave.
Combat sports (MMA, boxing, kickboxing)
Combat sports produce the richest market menus in alternative sports.
| Market type | Availability | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Moneyline | Always | Two-sided. Fighter A vs. Fighter B. |
| Totals (rounds) | Common | Over/under on total rounds completed. Line varies by scheduled fight length. |
| Method of victory | Common | KO/TKO, submission, decision. Specific to combat. |
| Round betting | Common | Which round the fight ends in, or goes the distance. |
| Fight props | Varies | Knockdowns, takedowns, significant strikes -- depends on league data depth. |
| Futures | Seasonal | Tournament or ranking-based futures where applicable. |
Integration notes: Always check for method-of-victory markets -- they are a core differentiator for combat sports betting. Handle "draw" and "no contest" outcomes in your settlement logic.
Racing (motorsports, cycling, horse racing)
Racing sports have multi-participant fields, which produce market structures you will not see in head-to-head sports.
| Market type | Availability | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Moneyline (outright winner) | Always | Large field. Many participants at long odds. |
| Podium / top-3 finish | Common | Bet on a participant finishing in the top 3 (or top 5, top 10). |
| Head-to-head matchups | Common | Synthetic two-way markets: "Does Driver A finish ahead of Driver B?" |
| Exacta / trifecta | Varies | First two or three finishers in exact order. High odds, lower liquidity. |
| Fastest lap / stage winner | Varies | Prop-style markets within the race. |
| Futures (season championship) | Seasonal | Who wins the series or season points title. |
Integration notes: Field size varies significantly. Your UI should handle moneylines with 20+ participants gracefully. Head-to-head matchups within a race are a popular and simpler alternative to outright winner markets.
Team sports (lacrosse, rugby league, arena football)
Team-based alternative sports follow patterns familiar from mainstream sports, with some differences in market depth.
| Market type | Availability | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Moneyline | Always | Two-sided. Team A vs. Team B. |
| Spread / handicap | Common | Point spread. The line is set based on expected competitiveness. |
| Totals (points) | Common | Over/under on combined score. |
| Team props | Varies | First to score, halftime winner, margin of victory. |
| Futures | Seasonal | Championship winner, conference winner, promotion/relegation. |
Integration notes: Market depth varies by league maturity. A well-established league may have full spread and totals coverage, while a newer league may only offer moneylines. Check /markets per sport before building UI.
Jai alai
Jai alai has a unique competitive format -- typically 8 players or teams rotate through points in a single match, with a points-based scoring system that determines placement.
| Market type | Availability | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Moneyline (match winner) | Always | Pick the overall winner of the match. |
| Quiniela | Common | Pick the top two finishers in any order. |
| Perfecta | Common | Pick the top two finishers in exact order. |
| Trifecta | Common | Pick the top three finishers in exact order. |
| Win/place/show | Common | Bet on a player to finish first, top 2, or top 3. |
| Point spread | Varies | Less common than in team sports, but available in some formats. |
Integration notes: Jai alai's market structure is closer to racing or greyhound racing than to team sports. The quiniela/perfecta/trifecta markets are the signature offerings -- if you are displaying jai alai, build UI for these combination markets. Use the dedicated Jai Alai event and Jai Alai odds endpoints for sport-specific data shapes.
Building archetype-aware UIs
Rather than hard-coding market display logic for each sport, build your UI around archetypes:
- Fetch the sport's archetype from
/sports. - Fetch available markets from
/marketsfiltered by sport. - Map archetype to layout -- use a combat layout (two-sided moneyline + method of victory + round betting), a racing layout (field moneyline + podium + head-to-head matchups), a team layout (moneyline + spread + total), or a jai alai layout (win/place/show + quiniela/perfecta/trifecta).
- Only display markets that the API actually returns for a given event. Not every event within a sport will have every market type.
This approach scales as ALT Sports Data adds new sports -- if a new sport shares an existing archetype, your UI handles it automatically.
Related pages
- Sports coverage -- browse available sports and their archetypes.
- Market catalog -- full market type reference.
- Sport Archetypes -- detailed archetype definitions and behavior.
- Use Cases -- integration patterns that rely on market data.