Sydney Sweeney and Novig Double Down With Second Ad as Debate Continues

Sydney Sweeney in a Novig sports-advertisement still, wearing a white Novig jersey under studio lighting — Novig via ScreenCrush

Summary

Sydney Sweeney posted a second Novig ad on Oct. 11, weeks after the first campaign drew criticism from female athletes.
The new spot again features revealing imagery and contrasts sports trading with prediction markets on war and other events.
Novig CEO Jacob Fortinsky said the two ads were planned as major campaign moments, according to Mediaweek.
The debate centers on whether the campaign’s imagery sexualizes women’s sports; the ad promotes a prediction-market platform, not athletic performance.

A sequel to the “Just Sports” campaign

Sydney Sweeney and prediction-market company Novig released a second ad on Oct. 11, extending a campaign that had already drawn criticism from women athletes. The 30-second spot returns to the company’s “Just Sports” positioning, with Sweeney in Novig-branded underwear and sports props as she contrasts trading on sports with contracts tied to war, political events and other subjects. The new installment followed the first campaign’s September launch and renewed attention to the partnership.^{[1] [2] [3]}

The ad opens with Sweeney addressing social-media chatter about men speculating on what underwear she is wearing, then pivots to the kinds of non-sports event contracts Novig says it avoids. It ends with her holding footballs in front of her chest as the company’s sports-only message returns. The sequence borrows the first campaign’s suggestive visual language while placing more emphasis on the platform’s distinction from prediction markets that cover world events.^{[1] [2] [3]}

The follow-up was not presented by Novig as an improvised answer to criticism. CEO and co-founder Jacob Fortinsky told AdAge, as reported by Mediaweek, that the two spots were planned as “tentpole” moments for the campaign. Mediaweek also reported that Sweeney is not simply a hired spokesperson: she is a strategic partner and equity holder in the company, and the campaign followed the original ad’s strong reach.^{[1] [2]}

Criticism continues alongside the attention

The first ad prompted a public response from athletes who argued that it sexualized women’s sports by centering Sweeney’s body rather than athletic skill. British sprinter Amy Hunt and Australian swimmer Ariarne Titmus were among those who criticized the campaign, while gymnast Gracie Kramer’s response video helped spark a wider wave of athletes sharing images of their own training and competition. That debate formed the backdrop for the second installment.^{[4] [2]}

The sequel’s reception was divided. Mediaweek reported that some fans praised Sweeney for leaning into the concept, while The Daily Beast noted that other viewers questioned why nudity was necessary to market sports. The disagreement is not over whether Sweeney participated in the ad—she did—but over what the imagery communicates when a betting-related brand uses a celebrity rather than an athlete to represent sports.^{[1] [2]}

The campaign has kept Sweeney and Novig in the conversation, but attention does not resolve the criticism. Novig’s message is that its platform focuses on sports markets, while critics see the campaign as relying on a familiar sexualized image of women in a field where female athletes have long argued for recognition based on performance. The second ad made clear that the company and Sweeney intended to continue the approach, not quietly move away from it.^{[1] [3] [4]}

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