The easy answer is - 'sometimes'. It can depend on a number of factors including the size of the sportsbook. Although balancing the action is often preferred, it isn't critical for a healthy betting company because they have a built in margin, so most of the bets they lay will have a built in advantage. I say 'most of the bets' because a few shrewd bettors will take that advantage from the sportsbook e.g if they get on the right side of a moving line.
But over the long term, regardless of the balance of action, the book should do well.
If you analyse it, sportsbooks rarely manage to put up a line that doesn't move - so the line rarely really divides opinion. If the line was perfect, it wouldn't move because it would attract equal action on both sides. Contrary to popular opinion, this is not actually what the sportsbook wants - if say the spread was a whole number eg. -8 / +8 and it attracted equal action and the game went on to finish bang on the spread at 8 points - then the line would be 'too good'. Bets would have to be refunded due to the 'push' and the whole exercise would have been for nothing.
The best situation for the sportsbook is to open the line at say 8.5 or on a half number (whole number +0.5) and get perfectly equal action on both sides.
This never really happens.
So the precision of the line is not really an issue because if the line were too accurate, then too many games would land on the number and the bookmaker would not make his money.
The odds-maker wants to create a line that is not too precise but precise enough so that the public think that the line is right.
One of the problems that a bookmaker may encounter in attracting betting on a team and then moving the line to attract betting on the other team - is that he may fall victim to 'middlers'. Middlers are generally quite shrewd bettors who bet both sides of the line hoping to profit on both bets due to the movement of the spread - whilst keeping their downside minimal. The best scenario is that they win both sides and the worst scenario is that they win one bet and lose the other for a minmal loss.
Sportsbooks don't like these types of bettors - if they are forced to move their line from e.g. -6/+6 to +7/+7.5 the opportunity exists for middlers to take the -6 on one team and the +7.5 on the other - if the game lands on 7 then the bettor/middler could win both sides of their bet.
In summary however, bookmakers do not want to put up a
sports betting line that is too accurate.
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