Sydney Sweeney’s Novig Ad: Sexualized Imagery, Backlash from Women Athletes, and Concerns About Sports Betting

# What happened

A new one-minute campaign for Novig, a sports betting and prediction platform, stars actor Sydney Sweeney. The ad shows Sweeney nude with sports equipment placed to cover parts of her body. The site Fit Is a Feminist Issue refuses to link directly to the ad but reports it is widely circulating online.

# Why the ad matters to this outlet

Fit Is a Feminist Issue frames the reaction as three separate problems: the use of sex to sell, the treatment of women in sports, and the product the ad promotes.

First, the site says the campaign leans on a narrow, commercialized idea of female sexiness—images that have historically promoted limited body types and racialized standards of attractiveness. Although the publication identifies as body positive and has published pro-nudity and inclusive fitness pieces, it calls this particular ad unimaginative, mean, and uncreative in how it deploys sexual imagery.

# How athletes responded

Former gymnast Gracie Kramer posted a viral video montage of athletic performances with the caption "this is what a woman in sports looks like," which inspired many other athletes to post their own clips. British sprinter Amy Hunt spoke on the BBC after a race and addressed the ad directly, asserting that the visual does not represent women in sport. Fit Is a Feminist Issue cites those reactions as evidence that many women in sport view the campaign as demeaning and dehumanizing.

# Public-health and economic concerns about the product

Fit Is a Feminist Issue combines these points to criticize the ethics of promoting a sports-betting platform with sexualized imagery—arguing that the ad both misrepresents women in sport and markets a product associated with addiction and economic harm.

# The author's position and closing

The author expresses personal anger at the campaign and directly criticizes both Sydney Sweeney for participating and Novig for using this creative approach to gain market share. The piece suggests Novig should rethink its business model and thanks athletes and commentators who have pushed back publicly. The publication reiterates its body-positive commitments while rejecting this particular use of nudity and sexualization in commercial marketing.

# Immediate effects to watch

• Continued athlete-led social responses and viral counter-content.
• Media coverage framing the campaign as a debate about sexualization vs. creative advertising.
• Discussions about regulation or public-awareness efforts related to sports-betting apps and gambling harms.