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Sex Sells… or Does It? A Comprehensive Guide to Novig’s Sydney Sweeney Controversy

By jili tutorial · September 24, 2026

Sex Sells… or Does It? A Comprehensive Guide to Novig’s Sydney Sweeney Controversy

Background: The Campaign and Its Premise

Prediction markets are a fast-growing corner of the betting world, allowing users to trade contracts on outcomes ranging from sports scores to election results. Unlike traditional sportsbooks, platforms like Kalshi, Polymarket, and the challenger Novig often let customers set their own odds and trade with minimal house margin. Novig’s name itself is a play on “no vig” — a reference to the absence of the bookmaker’s customary fee.

In late August 2024, just ahead of the NFL season, Novig launched a campaign titled “Just Sports.” The ads feature actor Sydney Sweeney — star of Euphoria and Anyone But You — naked or partially clothed, with footballs, boxing gloves, and other sporting equipment positioned strategically to preserve modesty. The copyline: Novig offers “just sports” — no political, war, or death markets that other prediction platforms allow.

The central joke is that while rivals have expanded into morbid or divisive contracts, Novig stays focused on athletic competition. Sweeney, who reportedly approached Novig about a collaboration and has since become an equity holder, was closely involved in developing the concept. She told Complex magazine that the idea was fun and aligned with her genuine interest in sport.

The Immediate Impact: Virality and Awareness

By almost any measure of raw attention, the campaign succeeded. The imagery spread far beyond Novig’s existing audience, generating millions of social media impressions, widespread media coverage, and a surge in searches for both Sweeney and Novig. Tony Kenny, a former communications executive at William Hill and Paddy Power, put it bluntly: “It has done a brilliant job of getting that attention. Absolutely, at the top of the funnel it has created awareness. Interest and searches are happening, and downloads are happening.”

For a relatively unknown brand competing against well-funded incumbents, that is no small feat. The campaign also overshadowed advertising from much larger competitors, proving that a provocative idea can cut through the noise even with a modest budget.

The Backlash: Female Athletes Speak Out

Virality, however, cuts both ways. The campaign quickly drew criticism from prominent female athletes who argued that it reduced women’s place in sports to sexual display. Among the most vocal:

The backlash was amplified by coverage from major outlets including the BBC and the New York Times, turning a marketing stunt into a cultural debate. Novig’s CEO, Jacob Fortinsky, defended the campaign, stating the company was “hugely supportive” of women’s sport and that Sweeney was not intended to represent female athletes. Sweeney responded by pointing to previous nude photoshoots featuring elite sportswomen — a counterargument that only fueled further discussion.

Analyzing the Funnel: From Views to Funded Accounts

The Gap Between Attention and Conversion

Tony Kenny, who oversaw sponsorship and PR at William Hill and later served as a senior communications figure at Paddy Power, stresses that awareness is only the first step. “The commercial questions are whether people progress to registration and a funded account, and then whether Novig retains them and creates value from those customers. We are still at an early stage.”

Signing up to a prediction market requires considerably more commitment than sharing a meme or commenting on an Instagram post. Users must:

  1. Download the app or visit the site.
  2. Create an account and provide personal details.
  3. Fund that account with real money (often via bank transfer or crypto).
  4. Understand how to trade contracts — a concept unfamiliar to many casual sports fans.
  5. Place a trade and, ideally, return to trade again.

The campaign generated high engagement at the top of the funnel, but each subsequent step represents a significant drop-off. As Kenny notes, “This is not a free trial; people have to put in their hard-earned cash. That is a stretch for any gambling company.”

Comparing to Celebrity Endorsements: American Eagle vs. Novig

Kenny contrasts the Novig campaign with Sweeney’s previous partnership with American Eagle. Seeing her wearing a pair of jeans can directly trigger a purchase decision: “I want those jeans because they look good on her.” The product is the jeans, and the endorsement is straightforward.

With Novig, the connection is indirect. Sweeney is surrounded by sports equipment, but nothing in the ad clearly explains why someone should open an account, deposit money, and trade a contract. The “just sports” message is clever, but it doesn’t answer the fundamental question: Why Novig? The campaign relies on viewers already understanding the value proposition — or being curious enough to research it on their own.

Seasonal Effects and Tracking Challenges

Novig can track traffic arriving through embedded links in its advertising and social channels. But outsiders — and likely even Novig internally — face two challenges:

Without publicly available conversion metrics, the campaign’s true commercial impact remains unknown.

The Brand Identity Question: What Does Novig Want to Stand For?

The Paddy Power Model: Authentic Irreverence vs. Manufactured Controversy

Kenny experienced first-hand how a provocative brand can succeed over the long term. At Paddy Power, irreverent stunts were embedded in the company’s personality. The audience knew the bookmaker was “in on the joke” and expected boundary-pushing campaigns. That authenticity made the stunts feel organic, not forced.

Novig could aim for a similar position in the US prediction market sector — presenting rivals like Kalshi and Polymarket as comparatively corporate and conventional. However, sustaining that identity across a massive and culturally diverse market like the United States is a substantial undertaking. It requires a consistent voice, repeated execution, and a willingness to risk backlash every time.

Kenny’s key warning: “Paddy Power’s irreverence is authentic to the brand, and it creates shareable content. That is the key.” If Novig’s controversy feels manufactured — a one-off attention grab — it will struggle to build the kind of enduring, trusted brand that retains customers.

The Name Recognition Problem: “Novig” vs. “No Vig”

For industry insiders and experienced bettors, “Novig” is a transparent reference to “no vig” — the promise of trading without the traditional house margin. But for the millions of people who saw Sweeney’s image, the name means nothing. A campaign that makes people remember Sydney Sweeney but not Novig is a hollow success.

The company must now bridge the gap between “that controversial ad with the actress” and “a platform where I can trade sports contracts without a bookmaker’s edge.” That requires a sustained, multi-channel education effort — one that the initial campaign did not provide.

Sydney Sweeney as Equity Partner: Asset or Liability?

Sweeney’s equity stake ties her long-term interests to Novig’s success. That could be a powerful asset if she continues to promote the brand authentically. But it also raises a risk: if the controversy overshadows the product, Sweeney risks becoming a distraction rather than a magnet.

If every subsequent campaign relies on Sweeney and sexual provocation, the impact will diminish. If Novig pivots too quickly, the first campaign may remain famous while the brand behind it is forgotten. Kenny frames it succinctly: “Novig has attention, awareness and some recall, but what does it want to be associated with? Sydney Sweeney is now an equity partner. Is she going to be the face of Novig, or will the company pivot?”

Lessons for Prediction Market Operators

The Risks of Overrelying on Shock Value

The Novig case illustrates a classic marketing trade-off: shock generates attention but often at the cost of brand clarity. A campaign that gets people talking but doesn’t clearly communicate what you do — or why they should care — can be a sunk cost disguised as a win.

Operators should ask:

The Importance of a Consistent Brand Voice

Paddy Power’s success didn’t come from a single campaign; it came from years of consistent irreverence. Novig — or any challenger brand — needs to decide on a tone and stick with it. If the “just sports” message is genuine, future campaigns should reinforce that positioning without relying on the same shock tactics.

Measuring What Matters Beyond Vanity Metrics

Views, shares, and even app downloads are poor proxies for business success. The metrics that matter are:

The Novig campaign likely performed well on the first two vanity metrics, but the rest remain unknown.

Conclusion: The Unresolved Question

Novig has proven it can seize a moment and overshadow campaigns from much larger competitors. It has not yet proven that the resulting audience understands its proposition, remembers its name, or wants to become a customer.

“This will be a non-story next week,” Kenny predicts. “What does it do as attention starts to die down? Does it flood the market with more ads?” That is the test the initial viewing figures cannot answer.

Sex may sell attention. For Novig, the unresolved question is whether it can sell sports prediction contracts — or merely Sydney Sweeney.