the.com/point spread

means A margin set by oddsmakers that one team must beat by for bets on them to pay off, designed to attract equal money on both sides of a game.

from 'Point' traces back to Latin punctum ('a prick, a small mark'), while 'spread' comes from Old English sprædan, meaning to stretch or extend something wider. The gambling sense of 'spread' — the gap bettors must bridge — is a 20th-century American coinage, born alongside the rise of organized sports betting and bookmaking as a way to balance action on mismatched teams.