Sydney Sweeney raised more than just the ire of many female professional athletes with her racy viral ad for Novig last month — she also raised the sports prediction market platform’s valuation by more than a billion dollars.
The Euphoria actress made headlines in early September when, right before the 2026 NFL season kicked off, she launched a marketing campaign for Novig in which she posed nude while partially covering herself with various sports equipment.
According to the Wall Street Journal, for all the attention and controversy the campaign received, it helped quadruple Novig’s valuation. The outlet reported that Novig has new funding at a $2 billion US valuation, a staggering increase from the $500-million valuation it had earlier this year.
And it’s not just Novig itself that will see the benefits of Sweeney’s “sports” ad — the actress reportedly has an equity share in the company.
Is Sweeney naked in the commercial?
The commercial features Sweeney wearing little to no clothing while covering herself with a wide variety of sports equipment.
“Think you know sports? Prove it,” Sweeney says in the ad while holding two footballs over her bare chest.
“Novig is just sports, so they wanted to show just sports,” she continues in the next shot while sitting naked atop a basketball hoop and spinning a ball on her finger, with her long blond hair covering her breasts.
Sweeney is then shown provocatively posing with equipment from several other sports, including tennis, soccer, baseball and hockey goalie pads.
“No betting on wars, on deaths or on politics,” she adds while lying on a locker-room bench and balancing a soccer ball on her feet. “Just you, good takes and sports.”
Several iterations of the ad have since been posted on huge billboards in Times Square, among other locations.
What is the controversy over the commercial?
Since the commercial blew up on social media, many female athletes have weighed in on the potential impact of the ad on young girls who are interested in sports. British sprinter Amy Hunt commented on Sweeney’s ad after competing in the 200-metre sprint at the World Athletics Ultimate Championship in Budapest.
“It was incredible to be part of such an incredible race. Sydney Sweeney, this is what women in sport look like,” Hunt said. “Muscles, hard work, sweat, blood, tears. This is a beautiful evening.”
Several other athletes, including Olympians Ariarne Titmus, Kassidy Cook and Matilda Kearns, also spoke out against the ad.
WNBA star Sophie Cunningham also commented on the campaign, calling it “unauthentic,” but adding that she wasn’t offended by it.
“Why are girls mad? That is literally what she does. Why is anyone mad?” Cunningham said during a podcast appearance. “It is a gambling ad: Men, sports, pretty much naked women. Of course, that’s going to draw attention.”
Did Novig blame Sweeney for the controversy?
Last month, during a panel at Front Office Sports’ Asset Class conference, Novig CEO Jacob Fortinsky addressed the controversy, defending the intended message behind the campaign.
“As a company, we’re hugely supportive of women’s sports, I think it’s a huge component of our platform,” Fortinsky said on Tuesday. “We never intended to portray female sports.
“Sydney’s an actress. We’re a prediction market that is focused on sports, and that was the story she was communicating.”
However, Fortinsky then made it clear that it was the Anyone But You star who was a driving force behind the ad campaign and the visuals.
“It was a very exciting process to work with her both on the commercial side and the creative side,” he said. “Sydney was driving a lot of the visuals and the messaging.”