Fall is back, and you know what that means! It’s time for social media feeds to be filled with recipes for
everything pumpkin spice, edits of Gilmore Girls with just enough nostalgia to prompt a 10th rewatch,
ideas for “niche” Halloween costumes, hauls for extravagant Boo Baskets…


Oh, and of course, sports betting ads featuring a nearly-nude actress, covered only by hockey shin guards
and footballs. That’s right. In 2025, American Eagle tried to convince us that Sydney Sweeney had “great
jeans.” Now, Sweeney is working with Novig, a sports prediction market. For this campaign, she’s doing
away with the jeans (and all other clothing) to show audiences that Novig’s focus is “just sports.”
Following the release of this video advertisement on September 9th, 2026, people everywhere have
been posting about their disgust at Novig’s approach, with many specifically calling out Sweeney for
partaking in a campaign that counteracts the respect that women in sports work so hard to gain. Female
athletes in particular have spoken up, with many posting videos of them training and competing, using
the caption, “This is what women in sports really look like.” Ariarne Titmus, four-time Olympic swimming
gold medalist, wrote on Instagram, “How do we live in a world where monetizing a woman’s body and
sexualizing women’s sports is still a thing?” Although Novig was founded in 2021, this was their first
campaign, and a bold one, too.


When asked about this controversial approach, Novig’s CEO, Jacob Fortinsky, told Front of Office Sports,
“In some sense, it forces us into the national discourse.” Fortinsky also stated that Sweeney came to
Novig and was “interested in some kind of equity partnership” and even “helped craft that message,”
along with other aspects.


Sweeney has also responded to the backlash, telling Complex that the campaign was supposed to be “a
very simple and playful idea” that “brings the concept of ‘just sports’ to life.” Sweeney also posted
images on her Instagram story from ESPN The Magazine’s “Body Issue,” which featured naked athletes,
similar to the concept of Novig’s advertisement.


It is evident that the people at Novig are not attempting to diffuse the situation with a public apology or
other similar efforts. They have instead chosen to deflect the public’s response by claiming that the
campaign was not meant to cause harm and that similar strategies have been used by other companies.
The advertisement, like any other, is meant to grab attention. At a surface level, Novig’s approach is
understandable from a marketing perspective when we think about the amount of sports betting
advertisements that hit a variety of platforms around this time of year. Everyone uses celebrities, so how
they are used can heavily impact the success of the campaign. Among an influx of generic initiatives,
sales rely on concepts that stand out, even if that comes with widespread dispute. After all, negative
attention is still attention.

Yet, this still leaves the issue of who the audience actually is. Fortinsky made it clear with his post on
X/Twitter that “trading is for adults” and explained that users of Novig must be at least 21 years old.
Seemingly, Novig did not intend for the campaign to reach certain groups, such as children, who should
not be exposed to scandalous visuals. However, it’s 2026. With the vast utilization of digital media, was it
realistic to assume that the campaign wouldn’t reach younger audiences?


I don’t think so. Fortinsky’s defense dodges one very important fact: most viewers are not discovering
the advertisement on the Novig platform. They’re seeing it everywhere else. I came across the
advertisement while watching a movie on the streaming service Tubi. On this platform in particular, users
only need to be 13 years old to create an account. Even then, there are no formal ways of regulating
what age viewers are, and that goes for most streaming services, social media apps, and other sources of
digital content. Therefore, the age restriction that Novig’s platform has does not cover the span of the
advertisement.


Ultimately, the aftermath of the campaign has made this about much more than “just sports.” Viewers
are talking about whether or not Novig crossed the line. But, from a public relations or marketing
perspective, the conclusion of this discussion may not matter. Will Novig’s disrespect and lack of remorse
keep consumers away from spending money on Novig’s platform, or will the fact that we’ve even
entertained this conversation keep the company alive?