The spread is the betting line that oddsmakers set for the football game. They usually set the point spread to encourage equal betting on both teams. In a game with a +2.5 spread, oddsmakers are predicting that one team will win by 2 or more points, while the other team will lose by 2 or fewer points. We can also write this as a -2.5 spread, meaning that oddsmakers believe one team will win by 2 or more points and the other team will lose by 2 or fewer points.