Question
Is there a formula that the books use to decide how much to favor one team over another on the moneyline?

Answer
Probably, although I don't know what it is. What I can tell you is that the moneyline is created after accounting for the pointspread, whether the home or away team is favored, and the total. This last part is very important, but often overlooked. For instance, in tonight's (Sept. 12) game the Eagles are -1.5 against the Falcons, and the moneyline is -132. Next weekend's Chiefs-Raiders game has the Chiefs favored by -1.5, yet the Chiefs are a mere -118 on the moneyline. Why the difference? Because the total in the Chiefs game is 53, while the total in the Eagles game is 44. The more points that are expected in a game the less likely that the point spread is going to come into effect; thus, the 1.5 that the Eagles are laying are ‘more valuable' then the 1.5 the Chiefs are laying. As a rule, the lower the total the more your going to pay on a favorite on the moneyline.

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