Sydney Sweeney’s nude sports ad has female athletes fuming (video)

A major Hollywood name waded into the world of sports marketing this week – and the reaction from actual athletes has been anything but positive.

Who is Sydney Sweeney?

Sydney Sweeney is a 29-year-old American actress best known for her roles in Euphoria and The White Lotus and has built a huge following, both for her acting and for a string of high-profile brand campaigns.

That includes a 2025 American Eagle jeans ad that sparked its own controversy.

Critics accused the campaign of carrying undertones some called “eugenics” and “white supremacy.”

WHAT WAS THE NOVIG CAMPAIGN ABOUT

This time, Sweeney partnered with Novig, a sports-focused prediction market platform.

She’s the face of its new national ad campaign, and she’s also joined as a strategic partner and equity holder in the company.

In the campaign, she appears in a series of provocative shots.

Sports balls and pieces of athletic gear strategically cover her body rather than actual sportswear.

The company said the campaign was designed to bring its “Just Sports” message to life.

It was built with confidence, humour and a playful edge, cutting through the noise to put the focus entirely on sports.

Novig launched nationwide last month.

It positions itself as a platform focused solely on sports prediction markets.

According to one report, the ad has been viewed more than 33 million times on Instagram.

That figure has not yet been independently confirmed by other outlets.

WHY ATHLETES ARE FURIOUS

The backlash from the sporting world has been swift and loud.

American gymnast Gracie Kramer was among the first to respond. She posted an Instagram reel questioning what Sweeney was doing, contrasting it with what a woman in sport actually looks like.

Australian Olympic swimmer Ariarne Titmus, a four-time Olympic gold medallist, called the ad “an absolute joke.” 

She said she felt infuriated watching it, and urged people to support real female athletes instead.

Olympic 100m semifinalist Bree Masters shared images of herself competing.

She told Sweeney that this is what women in sports really look like.

Even the Australian Institute of Sport joined the criticism, posting its own “THIS is sport” video featuring female athletes set to the same backing track as Sweeney’s ad.

Not every athlete piled on empty-handed, either. Olympic boxer Skye Nicolson took part in the trend, while acknowledging the backlash was giving the company exactly the attention it wanted.

SWEENEY’S FOLLOW-UP POST

Sweeney later shared a series of ESPN magazine cover images on Instagram, featuring athletes like Serena Williams, Ronda Rousey, Sue Bird and Megan Rapinoe posing nude for the publication’s Body Issue.

She has not confirmed that the post was intended as a response to her critics, and it remains unclear whether the timing was connected to the backlash at all.

Reaction online remains split.

Some have defended the campaign as bold marketing, while others maintain it undercuts the very athletes it claims to celebrate.

DO YOU THINK THE NOVIG CAMPAIGN CROSSED A LINE, OR IS THIS JUST MARKETING NOISE?