Sydney Sweeney’s Nude Betting Ad Sparks Fresh Controversy Over ‘Sexualizing’ Women’s Sport

Once dubbed “MAGA Barbie,” Sydney Sweeney is again facing backlash over an advertising campaign, this time from a chorus of elite female athletes who say her latest project undermines decades of progress in women’s sport.The actress appears nude or scantily clad in a new campaign for sports-prediction platform Novig, using footballs, tennis rackets, baseball bats, and basketballs to shield her body. One clip posted to Novig’s Instagram has already drawn 37 million views in just four days. But the reaction from the sporting world has been anything but celebratory.Australian surfer Felicity Palmateer blasted the ads, saying they set women’s sports back significantly. “Just absolute utter disbelief, incredibly disappointing, like, how far you can put women’s sports backwards in the space of a 42-second commercial,” she told CNN. The ad campaign, she said, “is very damaging, especially for young females getting into sport, for females in sport, for females in general, just hypersexualized content. We want to be valued for what we can do, not what we look like.”Four-time Olympic swimming champion Ariarne Titmus posted a pointed response on her Instagram stories. “I wasn’t going to share this as I didn’t want to give this any more attention. But I can’t keep my mouth shut,” she wrote.“I can’t describe how infuriated I feel when I watch this. Not only is this a kick in the face to every woman who has dedicated her life to perfecting her craft, but every woman who enjoys sports for what it really is — teamwork, friendship, dedication, excellence, unity. How do we live in a world where monetising a woman’s body and sexualising women’s sport is still a thing?” Ms. Titmus wrote.British sprinter Amy Hunt raised the controversy in a live, post-race BBC interview after clocking a fourth-place finish at the Ultimate Championship in Budapest. “Sydney Sweeney, this is what women in sport look like. 21.4 [seconds]. Muscles. Hard work, blood, sweat, tears,” she said, referencing Melissa Jefferson-Wooden’s winning time. Ms. Hunt added, “When you’re a woman in sport, it’s not pretty. It’s not glamorous. It’s not sexy all the time, definitely.”Other athletes echoed the sentiment through social media. American gymnast Gracie Kramer shared a training highlight reel captioned “this is what a woman in sport looks like,” which has since drawn more than a million likes. Australian water polo Olympian Tilly Kearns wrote, “I absolutely f**king hate Sydney Sweeney’s new sports ad,” while boxer Skye Nicholson posted, “Giving the ad campaign exactly what they wanted, but honestly these companies need to do better. Stop sexualising women in sport.”Novig founder and CEO Jacob Fortinsky told Front Office Sports that Ms. Sweeney, an equity holder in the company, pushed for the nude concept herself, reportedly telling him, “I’m uncomfortable with other platforms that have markets on what colour underwear I’m going to wear.” Ms. Sweeney has defended the ad in a statement on Novig’s website, saying, “The campaign was about embracing a fun idea. The concept is simple: cut through the noise and put the focus entirely on sports.” She also pointed to past nude photoshoots by athletes like Serena Williams and Megan Rapinoe as precedent.Some on social media defended Ms. Sweeney. “ESPN combined sports and nudity for over a decade. So, what is your true issue with the Sydney Sweeney ad? Is it because it’s an ad? Is it because she’s hot?” one X user wrote. “If it’s mixing sports and nudity that may sexualize female athletes, why didn’t you have an issue with ESPN?”“I do not have an issue with the Sydney Sweeney ad at all, but I think the difference is she’s not an athlete and has no tie to sports,” wrote another X user.“She’s played sports during her life, still watches and supports sports, and made an ad for a sports betting network,” wrote another. “Not advertising the national women’s soccer team or something. She’s being attacked because some of these women think their insta accounts need more followers.”This isn’t Ms. Sweeney’s first brush with controversy — her 2025 American Eagle jeans campaign drew accusations of promoting eugenics-adjacent messaging. The ad campaign featured the slogan, “Sydney Sweeney has great jeans,” playing on the words “genes” and “jeans.” The campaign led to Ms. Sweeney being dubbed “MAGA Barbie.”The latest uproar comes as the sports world grapples more broadly with how female athletes are visually portrayed. European Athletics and the European Broadcasting Union recently released a 23-page guidance document, “Raising the Bar,” urging broadcasters to avoid camera angles and slow-motion replays that sexualize athletes rather than showcase their performance. Developed with input from athletes including Holly Bradshaw and Ivana Španović, the guidelines discourage lingering close-ups and suggestive framing in favor of wide shots that highlight technique. EBU Sport Executive Director Glen Killane said such portrayals remain “a significant concern across many sports broadcasts,” and the standards could debut at the European Athletics Championships beginning August 10 in Birmingham.

Sydney Sweeney’s Nude Betting Ad Sparks Fresh Controversy Over ‘Sexualizing’ Women’s Sport

Sydney Sweeney’s Nude Betting Ad Sparks Fresh Controversy Over ‘Sexualizing’ Women’s Sport

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