Sports · updated 1h ago · 2 min read
Ariarne Titmus Slams Sydney Sweeney’s Novig Sports Betting Ad for Sexualising Women’s Sport
Ariarne Titmus condemns Sydney Sweeney's nude sports ad for Novig betting campaign. The ad features Sweeney largely nude, simulating participation in multiple sports, prompting backlash.
Whether the controversy is empowering or infuriating.
5 of 6 outlets skipped it: novig says Sweeney helped develop creative direction and messaging.
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Fox Sports frames the backlash as empowering, while ABC, the BBC, Guardian, and SMH foreground anger at sexualisation.
Sweeney ad sparks backlash
A sports betting advertisement featuring actress Sydney Sweeney has drawn backlash from Australian Olympians after the ad showed Sweeney mostly in the nude while “mock playing a number of sports,” including “mock tennis, golf, baseball and ice hockey.”
“Swimming great Ariarne Titmus commented on the ad on Instagram, where it has been viewed over 33 million times, describing it as "an absolute joke".”
Swimming great Ariarne Titmus called the campaign an “absolute joke” and said she was “infuriated” by what she described as monetising a woman’s body and sexualising women’s sport.
The ad, for a sports betting company called Novig, plays on the pitch “just sports,” with Sweeney saying “So they wanted to show just sports,” while perched topless on top of a basketball hoop.
In a separate reaction reported by the BBC, British sprinter Amy Hunt referenced the advert after running a season’s best 22.10 seconds to finish fourth in the 200m final at the Ultimate Championship in Budapest on Sunday, telling viewers: “Sydney Sweeney, this is what women in sport look like.”
Athletes answer with reels
The backlash has prompted athletes to post their own footage, with the trend framed around the message “This is what sport looks like,” including the AIS posting: “THIS is sport” featuring several women athletes with the same backing track as the ad.
Australian Olympic swimmer Lani Pallister said she had “truly no words,” while water polo Olympian Tilly Kearns wrote: “I absolutely f---ing hate Sydney Sweeney’s new sports ad.”
In a BBC account of the same controversy, Hunt said the advert defines women by appearance rather than achievements, and she added: “21.4. Muscles. Hard work, blood, sweat, tears. This is a beautiful evening.”
Titmus also expanded on her criticism in social media comments, writing: “Not only is it a kick in the face to every woman who has dedicated her life to perfecting her craft,” and asking “How do we live in a world where monetising a woman’s body and sexualising women’s sport is still a thing?”
Novig and Sweeney respond
Sweeney’s campaign is tied to Novig, with the ad reportedly shot in Australia and Sweeney described as a shareholder and strategic partner, while the company’s pitch is built around sports-only betting.
““The campaign was about embracing a fun idea,” Sweeney said in a statement on the company’s website.”
In response to criticism, Sweeney said in a statement on the company’s website that “The campaign was about embracing a fun idea,” and she described the concept as “simple: cut through the noise and put the focus entirely on sports.”
The Guardian reported that the ad is for US sports prediction market company Novig and that retired Olympic swimmer Ariarne Titmus said she thought this type of “bullshit” marketing was a thing of the past.
The Guardian also quoted Hunt’s direct message to the actor—“Sydney Sweeney, this is what women in sport look like”—while noting that the backlash has been met with athletes using the same viral framing to highlight women’s sport as skill and training rather than sexualisation.