Women’s sports have often been looked over, because of a multitude of reasons. Whether it is deep seated sexism or simple advertising bias, women in sports have always faced lower viewership and respect in their sport more than their male counterparts. But as of recently, women have seen a massive boom in viewership- with the creation of new professional leagues, traction from star players, team expansions and funding in the collegiate sphere. An estimated 122.5 million Americans (more than half of the U.S. adult population) are interested in women’s sports, according to a Nielsen Women & Sports report. And most of this shift is happening via commercials, meaning that more name brands want to advertise during their sporting events.
Some of the most popular, money-making ads come from sports gambling sites- Draft Kings, Kalshi, and now of course Novig, who was made popular by using a nude Sydney Sweeney ad to sell the idea of “sports”. Sweeney used footballs, basketballs, and other equipment to cover her body while repeating “just sports”. The ad demeans women that associate with sports and uses sex to sell Novig’s gambling site to men, even though sports fans are fairly split between the genders. This reduced women’s connection to athletics to a sexualized image rather than showing training, achievement, teamwork, or competition. Female athletes said the campaign effectively “stole” the meaning of women’s sports and replaced it with the male gaze and commercial profit.
The worst part? Novig had to have known that before posting the ad. It isn’t hard to see that using a fully nude woman in the era of booming women’s success in sports would lead to backlash. But any PR is good PR, and without this ad- I wouldn’t even know what Novig was. The controversy gave the company exactly what it wanted: attention, conversation, and name recognition. The defamation of women was on purpose, knowing that the backlash would bring in the voices of the women and the purchases of the men.
In that sense, the ad was successful from a marketing perspective-but ethically? Ethically, it was deeply irresponsible. Novig used Sydney Sweeney’s body and the progress of women’s sports as tools to sell. They reduced women’s presence in sports to sexual appeal. They exploited the biggest difference between men and women’s sports- the one thing that set them so far back- and chose to instead celebrate, to defame. The company turned criticism into publicity while female athletes were left defending their right to be seen as competitors rather than objects.
Now women like Simone Biles, Serena Williams, Katie Ledecky, Ilona Maher, and Kelsie Whitmore have to fight even harder for a level playing field- facing questions over sexuality, ability, strength, femininity, body type, appearance, actions, and more. Instead of allowing their talent and accomplishments to speak for themselves, women athletes are often judged by how they look, how they act, and whether they fit society’s expectations of femininity. While aggressive behavior, passion, and intense emotion are celebrated as “competitive drive” in male athletes, the exact same traits in women are often labeled as “unruly,” “hysterical,” or “unsportsmanlike.” And now under the magnifying glass of a growing market at the same time the Novig ad comes out, women’s sports is left with a small sliver to keep growing.
Why can people stand by and allow this defamation? One always has to wonder, what would people do if it was their favorite male players being treated like this? Imagine instead of Sweeney it was someone like Michael B. Jordan. Of course, you should expect the same reaction- outrage over the sexualization of someone’s livelihood, experience, and abilities. The conversation, however, would likely focus on the creativity, humor, or confidence of the advertisement rather than questioning his worth or reducing his body to the entire message.
The double standard reveals how comfortable society still is with objectifying women, even while claiming to support their progress in sports. This ad is more than just sex selling- it is an expectation of women to be sexualized in everything they do- even when men do it too. Women have to prove time and time again their worth over just beauty in all industries- proving talent, strength, and professionalism everyday. Women are expected to be strong but not intimidating, attractive but not “too sexual,” and successful without challenging femininity. There’s always a line to cross and a way to be judged- with little to no leeway in forgiveness or understanding compared to a male athlete. And that double standard is what was selling in the ad- even more than just the sexualization. Novig took attention away from women’s accomplishments and reduced them to their bodies, reminding us that society still has a long way to go before women can be respected for their achievements without being sexualized in the process.
