Sydney Sweeney caused quite an uproar in the world of sports last week when she posed nude for a sports betting advertisement.
Novig, a prediction market, unveiled a new ad where Sweeney is covered by footballs, basketballs, hockey gear and other sports equipment. It didn’t take very long for a billboard of her to end up in Times Square.
“I’ve always believed that the best partnerships are the ones where everyone’s getting to collaborate,” Sweeney said, via Complex. “I don’t like to just put my face on something. I really want to be able to get into the weeds of it with an amazing team. And I got to meet the Novig team.”
Several fans ripped Sweeney for promoting gambling right before Week 1 of the NFL season, claiming she’s sending a bad message to the younger generations. Others questioned if she’s setting a bad standard for women in sports.
Well, women’s tennis player Priscilla Hon offered her thoughts on this subject Monday night.
Hon, who reached the third round of the US Open in 2025, doesn’t want Sweeney’s ad to set unfair body standards for young girls in sports.
“Sydney Sweeney looks amazing, and honestly good for her. But this isn’t about her or her body,” Hon wrote on Instagram. “Young girls already grow up feeling like they have to look a certain way. They’re constantly being shown what the “perfect” body is supposed to look like, and sport should be one of the places that teaches them their bodies are about what they can DO, not how they look. We should be showing the next generation that being strong, talented and capable is enough. They don’t need another reason to believe their body is what makes them valuable.”
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Sydney Sweeney is taking a lot of criticism this week.
Olympic gold medalist Ariarne Titmus put Sweeney and Novig on blast over the weekend.
“I can’t describe how infuriated I feel when I watch this,” Titmus wrote on Instagram. “How do we live in a world where monetizing a woman’s body and sexualizing women’s sport is still a thing?”
Former U.S. gymnast Gracie Kramer also expressed her frustration with Sweeney. She said, “I’ve spent my entire life competing in a sport where female athletes have been oversexualized, reduced to our bodies, and forced to fight to be taken seriously for what we can actually do.”
We’ll see if Sweeney doubles down and continues to make sports-related content with Novig.
