Sydney Sweeney’s nearly nude ad campaign for sports prediction market Novig has drawn sharp criticism from female Olympians and professional athletes, who say the spot sexualizes women’s sport rather than celebrates it. The campaign, called “Just Sports,” launched September 9 and features Sweeney covering herself with footballs, basketball hoops and hockey sticks while declaring the platform focuses solely on athletics.
Four-time Olympic swimming gold medalist Ariarne Titmus called the ad “an absolute joke” and wrote on Instagram that watching it left her infuriated. She argued the spot insults every woman who has dedicated her life to perfecting her craft in sport, along with those who value teamwork and dedication over appearance. Boxer Skye Nicolson, a world champion and Olympic medalist, drew a distinction between athletes looking confident in their bodies and a company deploying sex to market sports, though she acknowledged the uproar was likely giving Novig exactly the attention it wanted.
American gymnast Gracie Kramer helped ignite a broader response, posting competition footage with a caption suggesting Sweeney’s shots bore little resemblance to what women’s sport actually looks like. Australia’s national sports institute joined the pile-on, sharing its own footage of female athletes set to the same music as the Novig commercial. Water polo medalist Tilly Kearns and several other Australian Olympians posted similar rebuttals over the weekend, turning the criticism into a viral trend.
Sweeney has not issued a direct statement addressing the athletes’ objections. She has instead posted images from ESPN’s Body Issue archive showing nude elite athletes, including Serena Williams and Megan Rapinoe, an apparent suggestion that bare skin and athletic achievement aren’t mutually exclusive. In comments to the Wall Street Journal, Novig co-founder and CEO Jacob Fortinsky said the company hadn’t set out to create a campaign this provocative, but that Sweeney pushed for a sharper creative direction and helped shape both the concept and the messaging. Sweeney is now an equity holder and strategic partner in the company, not simply a paid endorser.
The backlash echoes criticism Sweeney faced last year over an American Eagle campaign built around a play on “genes” and “jeans,” which critics said carried uncomfortable undertones about genetics and race. Novig launched nationally last month, positioning itself against betting platforms that also let users wager on politics or public figures’ personal lives.
