September 2026 Hollywood star Sydney Sweeney launched an advertisement in partnership with Novig, a federally regulated U.S. prediction market. In the ad, Sweeney is posed nude with different sports equipment while encouraging the viewer to place bets on the Novig website. The ad posits the website is about “Just Sports,” yet visually contrast this statement by putting Sweeney’s body at the center of the ad, making sports an afterthought. This contradiction — Sweeney’s body versus the implied focus on betting — raises many questions about why the female form is seen as an easy accompaniment to sports betting culture.
The ad caused a major uproar within the community of women’s athletics, eliciting backlash from collegiate, Olympic and professional athletes alike. Female athletes already have a tumultuous history with attempting to gain recognition for their athletic abilities — they are sometimes seen as too feminine or inherently weaker than men, and by default, inferior athletes. As a female athlete, it’s difficult to see women depicted this way within a community I love. Sports have been a source of love and accomplishment in my life, and the competitive basketball environment has been a place that’s given me purpose. It is easy for me to forget that women are not widely respected as competitive athletes, especially since I have always been encouraged to thrive within sports. Because of this, seeing Sweeney’s ad was especially jarring. Is this how men really want to see women in sports?
While I don’t think showing women’s bodies in a sexual way is always harmful to women or inherently objectifying — nudity can sometimes be empowering in reclaiming sexuality, especially when created by the model themself — it’s important to understand the audience and impact of the circumstances. Sweeney is not just the star of the ad but also “an equity holder and strategic partner” of Novig and helped produce and create the ad. So why do I not see this instance as empowering? For me, this ad was published at a horrible moment in time, considering the cultural zeitgeist and the current emergence of women’s athletics. We are living in a time of revolution in women’s sports, with huge expansions in the WNBA and the creation of the Women’s Professional Baseball League (WPBL). We are living in the best moment in history to engage in women’s sports, and this ad takes attention away from these accomplishments and redirects attention to women’s bodies.
In my daily life as an athlete, there are constant reminders that women are outsiders looking in on sports. Almost any female athlete you ask has a story of being cast aside in favor of their male counterparts, whether it’s being ignored in athletic training facilities or having a smaller attendance at games. At my high school, the men’s team was Branham Bruins Basketball, while we were the Lady Bruins. They were the default, we were the afterthought.
Sweeney’s ad is demoralizing because she is selling herself along with the gambling, blurring the line between what the object for sale is. In reference to the sports world, these ads alienate women from being seen as professionals in the field, instead framing them as an object to gawk at while spectators consume media. We see these attitudes manifest when looking at the NBA social media accounts. July 16, 2024, the official ESPN account posted the promotion of Lindsey Harding from G-League Head Coach to Lakers Assistant Coach. There are hundreds of comments discrediting Harding, despite her having a decorated collegiate basketball career at Duke, nine years of WNBA experience and winning G-League Coach of the Year.
The sexualization of women in the sports world makes women one-dimensional. Men start to view women as less capable, intelligent and worthy. It’s the women who are trying to break into male-dominated fields who feel the full effects of this dehumanization.
The relationship between women and the major sports networks has always been rocky, and coupled with an emerging sports betting culture aimed towards influencing young men, women in all fields of sports will feel the effects of this seemingly inescapable objectification. It is clear that the sports world is made for men, and ads like Sweeney’s create a further separation between the female form and the sports world. It’s difficult to feel comfortable and confident as an athlete when your body and gender are seen as more important than your game.
Contact Quinn Godfrey at qgodfrey@oxy.edu
