How Novig Works: A Full Explainer (October 2026)

Novig uses a peer-to-peer exchange model, matching traders who want to take opposite positions on a sporting event. Unlike a traditional sportsbook, it doesn't set the odds itself and rather relies on overall market sentiment.

Say you want to trade on the Lakers to win their next game. You can accept another trader's available price or submit an order at your preferred price. When there's a matching order on the opposite side, the trade executes.

Your position then appears in your Novig portfolio, where you can monitor it until settlement or sell it early if eligible. Novig handles the matching and settlement process without acting as the opposing trader.

Trades are matched through an order book, which shows the prices and quantities traders are willing to buy or sell contracts at. You can view the order book through Novig's order slip before placing a trade.

Two numbers are worth keeping in mind:

• Bid: The highest price another trader is currently willing to pay to buy a contract.
• Ask: The lowest price another trader is currently willing to accept to sell a contract.

The difference between those prices is called the bid-ask spread.

Available quantity is also important. For instance, if you want 100 contracts but only 30 are available at your preferred price, you may need to accept a different price for the remaining contracts or wait for more liquidity.

In other words, a wider bid-ask spread or limited available quantity can make entering and exiting positions more expensive, even when Novig charges no trading commission.

Keep reading: Understanding Liquidity vs. Accuracy at Prediction Markets: A Guide for Traders

Novig displays contract prices as percentages, representing the market's implied probability of an outcome happening.

For example, a contract priced at 60% costs $0.60 per contract and suggests the market assigns roughly a 60% probability to that outcome. That's a reflection of the current trading price, though, not a guarantee that the event will happen.

Prices move as traders submit, modify, and accept orders. If buyers are willing to pay more for a particular outcome, its price can rise. If sellers start accepting lower prices, it can fall.

An injury announcement, lineup change, or move in the score can also influence what participants are willing to pay.

Let's say you're trading on a WNBA team to win, and the contract is available at 62%.

You buy 10 contracts at $0.62 each, spending $6.20. Here's how the trade would settle depending on the result:

These figures exclude any applicable trading fees.

Each winning contract pays $1 at settlement, regardless of its purchase price. A losing contract pays $0.

You can also trade on the opposite outcome. In a binary market, the two sides have complementary settlement values, although the prices currently available to buy each side won't necessarily add up to exactly 100%.

Novig offers two main ways to place straight trades: Make and Take. Your choice determines whether you accept an existing price or submit your own.

A Take order accepts an offer already available in the market.

If a contract is offered at 55%, you can choose Take and purchase it at that price, provided enough liquidity is available.

Take orders are useful when you want to enter a position without waiting for someone to accept a new price. However, bigger orders may execute across multiple price levels if there aren't enough contracts available at the best price.

Note: Take orders are also known as market orders.

A Make order lets you choose the price you're willing to trade at.

Say a contract is available to take at 55%, but you only want to pay 53%. You can submit a Make order at an approved price increment and wait for another trader to match it. Your order might fill immediately, partially fill, or remain unmatched. There's no guarantee another trader will accept your price.

Novig also asks you to set an order duration:

• Pregame Make orders expire when your selected duration ends or the game begins, whichever comes first.
• Live Make orders can remain active until a custom expiration time or the end of the game.

You can cancel a Make order anytime before it's matched. If only part of it goes through, the rest stays open. For instance, if you order 10 contracts but another trader only accepts four, those four are yours, while the remaining six stay available until someone matches them, you cancel them, or the order expires.

Keep in mind choosing Make doesn't automatically mean you're considered a maker. If your price matches an offer that's already available, that part of your order executes immediately and counts as a taker trade. You're only considered a maker when your order sits on the order book and another trader accepts it.

Note: Make orders are also known as limit orders.

Once a game or event ends, Novig checks the official results and settles your contracts automatically. You don't need to do anything to collect your payout.

If your contract wins, you get $1 per contract. If it loses, you get $0. Once Novig processes the result, you'll see it in your Portfolio, and any money you've earned is added to your account balance.

Settlement usually takes around 30 minutes after an event ends, although it can take longer. For futures or contracts involving multiple events, settlement happens once the relevant outcomes have been decided.

Sometimes a contract can't settle normally. Maybe a player is ruled out before a game, or an event gets canceled. In those situations, Novig may use something called Fair Value Settlement (FVS).

This means you won't necessarily get back exactly what you paid. Instead, Novig calculates what the contract was worth before the event or news that caused the disruption.

Say you bought a player prop contract for 60 cents, but that player is ruled out before the game. If Fair Value Settlement applies, Novig calculates a settlement price based on earlier market information. You might get more or less than your original 60 cents, depending on that calculation.

The rules vary by contract, so it's worth checking the settlement conditions before trading, especially for player props or games that could be postponed or canceled.

Novig focuses exclusively on sports event contracts, with markets covering professional and college football, basketball, baseball, hockey, soccer, golf, tennis, and MMA.

Alongside game winners, spreads, totals, and player props, you can trade futures on longer-term outcomes, such as which team wins a championship. Available markets vary by sport and season.

A parlay combines two or more selections into a single contract. For instance, you could combine the Lakers to win their next game with the Celtics to win theirs. Both selections would need to be correct for the parlay to pay its full winning amount.

Novig handles parlays a little differently from regular trades. Once you've chosen your selections, the platform checks with its liquidity providers and shows you the best available price for that combination. You can accept that price, but you can't use a Make order to set your own parlay price through the app or website.

What happens if one of your selections is voided or receives a Fair Value Settlement? Novig recalculates the parlay's settlement value based on its contract rules, so the amount you get depends on how the remaining selections settle.

Parlay fees are already included in the price you're quoted. You also can't sell a parlay early once you've placed the trade, so you'll need to hold it until settlement.

Novig earns revenue by charging fees on certain transactions rather than building a traditional sportsbook margin, known as the vig or juice, into its peer-to-peer straight-trade prices.

Under its current fee structure, pregame straight trades are free for both makers and takers. Taker fees apply to qualifying live and futures trades, while maker fills carry no trading fee. Eligible maker fills in certain markets may also earn credits.

Parlays have a separate fee structure, with the applicable fee already included in the quoted price.

For straight trades, Novig shows any applicable trading fee before you confirm your order. Placing, modifying, or canceling an order that never executes doesn't incur a trading fee.

For the full fee schedule, including how fees are calculated and deposit and withdrawal costs, see our Novig review.

Novig operates through a Designated Contract Market regulated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).

Its event contracts are regulated as financial derivatives under federal commodities law rather than through the state sportsbook licensing system. However, whether sports event contracts are also subject to state gambling laws remains disputed. Federal regulation hasn't resolved every jurisdictional question.

Novig currently excludes users physically located in Arizona, Michigan, and Nevada. Eligibility depends on your location when trading, regardless of your state of residence. You must also be at least 21 years old and complete identity verification before trading.

Even with control over the prices you're willing to accept, you can lose the full amount you spend on a contract.

For example, if you trade a contract priced at 95 cents and it wins, you'll get $1, earning just 5 cents before fees. If it loses, you're out the entire 95 cents you paid. A few unsuccessful trades at those prices can wipe out the profits from a lot of winning positions.

Liquidity creates another risk, particularly during live events. You might struggle to exit a position at your preferred price, and applicable trading fees can reduce your returns even more.

Novig provides responsible trading controls through the Account section. You can set daily, weekly, or monthly deposit and trading limits, or temporarily suspend your account for periods ranging from one day to six months.

Event contract trading involves financial risk and isn't appropriate for everyone. Think about your financial circumstances before committing funds.