New Delhi: Sydney Sweeney’s recent ad campaign for sports trading app Novig has sparked a backlash after the actor appeared nude among sports equipment. The campaign was meant to sell an idea that the sports prediction market should be about “just sports”.
Instead, the campaign has turned into an argument about celebrity advertising and women’s bodies.
In Novig’s “Just Sports” commercial, Sweeney uses footballs, a basketball net, and protective gear to cover parts of her body. “No betting on wars, or deaths, and no politics. Just you, your takes and sports,” she says in the video that was released on 9 September, the brand’s first national campaign.
Novig is a sports prediction-market platform competing with traditional bookmakers and rivals such as Kalshi and Polymarket. Sweeney has joined Novig as an equity partner and helped shape the campaign’s creative direction. This financial connection is also a reason why the campaign has drawn scrutiny beyond the question of whether its imagery is tasteful.
Last year, the actor was the centre of another controversy for American Eagle’s campaign, “Sydney Sweeney has great jeans”, which was criticised for being racially charged.
Novig says its platform is restricted to people aged 21 and above, and presents itself as a sports-only alternative to markets covering politics, death, and geopolitical events. It is regulated at the federal level after receiving accreditation from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission in July, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Sweeney has defended the campaign as playful rather than provocative for its own sake.
“The campaign was about embracing a fun idea. The concept is simple: cut through the noise and put the focus entirely on sports. The campaign brings that idea to life with confidence, humour and a playful edge,” she said.
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‘Selling gambling via sex’
Novig wants viewers to understand that the app offers contracts on sports outcomes and not on political events or human tragedies. Its chief executive, Jacob Fortinsky, told the Journal that Sweeney was involved not only in the performance but also in the messaging.
“She was a huge part of not only the creative process, but also the messaging,” Fortinsky said.
Yet the commercial’s visual language makes Sweeney’s body impossible to separate from the sales pitch. The campaign had accumulated one million likes on Instagram and about six million views on X shortly after its release.
Some viewers praised the commercial as clever and memorable, while others called it “gross” and criticised the decision to promote a betting service through sexualised imagery. “Selling gambling by selling sex. Society is crumbling before our eyes,” said one comment.
Some said that an age restriction does not prevent younger sports fans from encountering the campaign on social media, television, or outdoor advertising.
The backlash has also come from people concerned about women’s place in sport. Athletes argued that sexualising an advert for a male-dominated industry risks reinforcing the idea that women must use their bodies to gain attention, even when the product claims to be about athletic competition.
Retired Olympic swimmer Ariarne Titmus said she thought this type of marketing used to work in the past.
“I can’t describe how infuriated I feel when I watch this,” the four-time Olympic gold medallist said on Instagram. ““Not only is it a kick in the face to every woman who had dedicated her life to perfecting her craft, but every women who enjoys sports for what it really is – teamwork, friendship, dedication, excellent, unity.”
Sweeney responded by posting images of prominent athletes who have posed nude or semi-nude, including Serena Williams, Ronda Rousey, Sue Bird, Megan Rapinoe and Caroline Wozniacki.
(Edited by Prasanna Bachchhav)