Novig's provocative marketing campaign featuring actor Sydney Sweeney generated a level of attention few conventional advertising campaigns could match, but industry veterans say the harder test lies ahead: converting viral buzz into funded, retained customer accounts for the sports prediction market platform.

The campaign, called "Just Sports" and launched ahead of the new NFL season, features Sweeney nude or partially clothed, with footballs, boxing gloves and other sporting equipment strategically positioned to preserve her modesty. Its central joke plays on Novig's positioning within the prediction market industry: unlike some rivals, the platform offers only sports-related contracts, without political, war or death-related markets available elsewhere in the sector. Sweeney, who reportedly approached Novig about working together and has since become an equity holder in the company, was closely involved in developing the campaign. She told Complex the concept was enjoyable and aligned with her own interest in sports.

The imagery quickly spread well beyond Novig's existing audience, generating a backlash led primarily by female athletes who argued the campaign reduced women's presence in sports to sexual display. Former UCLA gymnast Gracie Kramer responded by sharing footage of herself competing, captioned, "I don't know what Sydney Sweeney was doing, but this is what a woman in sports looks like." British sprinter Amy Hunt, Olympic swimming champion Ariarne Titmus and water polo player Tilly Kearns were among other athletes who criticized the campaign. International rugby player Sofie Fella separately questioned why advertising budgets were being directed........

© International Business Times