A new advertising campaign for the sports betting platform Novig featuring American actress Sydney Sweeney has caused discontent among professional athletes. In the video, under the slogan Just Sports, Sweeney poses naked, covering herself with sports equipment. Critics accused the authors of the campaign and the actress herself of objectification, noting that such a presentation devalues women's sports.
In the minute-long video, a naked Sweeney performs various sports – tennis, basketball, rugby and football – while covering her private parts with appropriate equipment. The video ends with the words: “No bets on war or death and no politics. Just you, your forecasts and sports.” Within a week, a Novig post with an advertisement on X (formerly Twitter) received more than 12 million views.
Confirmed: Sydney Sweeney knows ball. pic.twitter.com/EXQ4PzVZsi
— Novig (@Novig) September 9, 2026
The campaign was criticized by sports organizations and dozens of famous athletes. Gymnast Gracie Kramer, sprinter Bree Rizzo, world champion boxer Skye Nicholson, track and field athlete Mary McCarthy and swimmer Lani Pallister responded by posting their own versions of what life looks like as a woman in professional sports on Instagram, showing grueling training, competitions and awards ceremonies. Australian swimmer Ariarn Titmus called the advert a “slap in the face to every woman”, while water polo player Tilly Kearns wrote that she “absolutely hates Sydney Sweeney's new advert”.
In her defense, Sweeney published a series of archival photographs of famous athletes. The images come from ESPN Magazine's now-defunct Body Issue, which has featured some of the world's most famous athletes posing nude since 2009.
Sweeney posted photos of tennis player Serena Williams, wrestler Ronda Rousey, basketball player Sue Bird, soccer player Megan Rapinoe, tennis player Caroline Wozniacki and other athletes and athletes. The actress compared the shots taken between 2009 and 2019 with photographs from her own advertising campaign.
“The campaign is based on a fun idea. The concept is simple: remove unnecessary noise and focus entirely on the sport. The ad delivers this message with confidence, humor and playfulness,” Sweeney said in a commentary posted on the company's website.
Sweeney herself is a co-owner of the company; she also participated in the development of the advertising concept. In an interview with Complex, the actress, who has posed nude before, said that it is important for her “not just to be the face of the company, but to watch its development and participate in it.”
Novig CEO Jacob Fortinsky addressed the criticism Tuesday at an Asset Class event hosted by Front Office Sports in New York.
“We weren’t trying to show women’s sports at all. Sydney is an actress, the biggest movie star in the world. We are a sports-focused prediction platform. That was the message she was conveying,” Fortinsky said.
The goal of the ad, he said, was to introduce Novig to a wider American audience ahead of the football season and close the gap with forecast market leaders such as Kalshi and Polymarket in terms of brand awareness.
“We asked ourselves: who is best able to attract the attention of the public and make Novig a famous brand? Sydney herself contacted us, and after that the decision was completely obvious,” he noted.
Cumulative trading volume on the platform, which launched last month, recently topped $1 billion, Fortinsky said, calling it the fastest start for a prediction market in the industry's history.
Last year, Sweeney found herself at the center of a scandal for her participation in an advertisement for the clothing brand American Eagle. The advertisement drew criticism due to the controversial slogan – Sydney Sweeney Has Great Jeans, which focuses on the consonance of the words jeans (jeans) and genes (genes). In the video, the actress says the phrase: “Genes are passed on from parents to children, often determining traits such as hair color, character and even eye color… My jeans are blue.”
