Sydney Sweeney's Nude Betting Ad Draws Backlash From Canadian Athletes

^{Canadian Olympians and national team athletes have joined a global backlash against Sydney Sweeney's ad for U.S. sports prediction market Novig, arguing it sexualizes women in sport. (Image: Novig)}

Sydney Sweeney's advertisement for U.S. sports prediction market Novig has drawn public criticism from Canadian athletes.

The ad, posted Sept. 9, had been viewed nearly 39 million times by Monday.

It shows Sweeney holding sports equipment in front of her body with minimal clothing, ending with the line "Think you know sports? Prove it."

The backlash reached Canada within days, joining a wider international response from female athletes.

Canadian Athletes Push Back

Canadian sprint canoeist Sophia Jensen posted a TikTok video of herself training and competing under the caption "Dear Sydney Sweeney, this is women in sports."

Figure skater Madeline Schizas posted a similar video to Instagram, writing "Hey Sydney Sweeney, this is what women in sport look like."

High diver Molly Carlson wrote that the ad "hits close to home" after years of struggling with how her body looked compared to what she thought an athlete was "supposed" to look like.

Gymnast Ellie Black quoted the ad's own line back at it, writing "This is women's sport: powerful, skilled, courageous and so much more interesting than being treated as something to look at."

International athletes including Australian swimmer Ariarne Titmus, British sprinter Amy Hunt and U.S. gymnast Gracie Kramer posted similar responses earlier in the week.

Neither Novig nor Sweeney has responded directly to the criticism, though Sweeney posted images of past athletes who posed nude for ESPN's Body Issue magazine.

How Canada Regulates This Kind of Ad

Novig operates as a U.S. federally regulated sports prediction market, not as a licensed gambling operator in Alberta's regulated online casino market or in Ontario's online casino market.

Ontario's gaming regulator, the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario, banned the use of athletes and celebrities in iGaming advertising outright in February 2024, with a narrow exception for responsible-gambling messaging.

Alberta applies a similar restriction, limiting athletes to ads that promote responsible gambling, such as Edmonton Oilers captain Connor McDavid's campaign for BetMGM.

Because Novig runs as a federally regulated prediction market rather than a licensed sportsbook, neither Ontario's nor Alberta's advertising standards apply to how it markets itself in Canada's online gambling market.

A Test for the Prediction-Market Model

Prediction markets like Novig have expanded quickly in the U.S. by operating under commodities-exchange rules rather than state or provincial gambling licences.

That structure lets them run campaigns that gambling regulators would not approve for a licensed sportsbook or online casino.

As similar products test the Canadian market, the reaction to Sweeney's ad points to friction ahead between how prediction markets choose to advertise and how provinces expect gambling ads to look.