Closing Line Value β What It Is
Closing line value (CLV) compares an earlier price with the closing line, the last price before kick-off. It is a common way to describe how much a price changed before a match started.
What Is Closing Line Value?
The closing line is the final price a bookmaker shows just before a match starts. By then the price includes all the information and money that reached the market before kick-off.
Closing line value is the difference between an earlier price and the closing line. For example:
- Home price 3 days before kick-off: 2.10
- Closing line: 1.90
- CLV of the earlier price: +10.5% β the earlier price was 10.5% higher than the closing price
Why the Closing Line Is Studied
A single match result says little on its own. The closing line is studied because:
- It includes the most information β the price at kick-off reflects everything known by then
- It is a fixed reference β every earlier price can be measured against the same final number
- It is separate from the result β a price can be higher than the closing line whatever the final score is
How CLV Is Calculated
CLV formula:
Examples:
- 2.10 earlier, 1.90 at close β CLV = +10.5%
- 1.85 earlier, 1.90 at close β CLV = -2.6% (the price went up)
- 2.00 earlier, 2.00 at close β CLV = 0% (no change)
A positive CLV means the price fell before kick-off; a negative CLV means it rose.
What Moves a Price Before the Close
- Time β prices far from kick-off have less information in them and tend to move more
- Differences between bookmakers β the same market can have different prices at the same moment
- Large amounts of money β a bookmaker can lower a price after it takes a lot of money on one side
- Market makers β other bookmakers often adjust their prices after a market maker moves
Track CLV on AsianOdds.com
The Past Games page shows the closing odds for every match. The odds movement chart on every match shows the full timeline from opening to closing odds.
See Opening and Closing Odds
Review past matches with full odds movement history from opening to closing line.
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