Sydney Sweeney's New Novig Ad Calls Out 'Insider Trading on Dictators Dying'

Sydney Sweeney's second Novig ad landed October 11, and the apology critics had been demanding was not in it. "There are grown men making spreadsheets to bet on what color underwear I'm wearing," Sweeney says in the 30-second spot, holding footballs against her chest. "I mean, I'm flattered?"

The ad, titled "No BS," does something the first "Just Sports" campaign did not: it attacks Novig's competitors by name and behavior. The line about "insider trading on dictators dying" is not rhetorical decoration. It is a direct shot at Kalshi, which has run prediction markets on the removal or death of political leaders including Iran's Supreme Leader and Venezuela's president. Polymarket runs similar broad event categories. Novig is sports-only. "No BS" turns that constraint into a moral selling point.

That framing carries regulatory weight too. TheLines reported Wisconsin has already ruled that Novig's sports contracts constitute sports betting, putting it at risk of state-by-state bans. "Just sports" is a legal defensible position and a brand one at the same time.

The first ad worked on every metric that mattered to Novig. CNBC reported October 3 that in the 20 days around the September 9 campaign launch, trading volume climbed 94% and first-time depositors surged 218%. Sweeney lost more than 200,000 Instagram followers during the backlash and did not apologize for a single day of it.

Washington Examiner columnist Tiana Lowe Doescher appeared on Newsmax the morning the sequel dropped and stated what the industry had already quietly concluded: "Instead of responding with a groveling apology, Sydney Sweeney doubled down with a sequel last week."

The athlete critics from round one have not softened. Olympic swimmer Ariarne Titmus called the original ad "a kick in the face" to women who built careers through sport. Gymnast Gracie Kramer and British sprinter Amy Hunt both posted objections publicly. Novig CEO Jacob Fortinsky responded by noting Sweeney "is not an athlete." The new ad did not change that calculus.

Creative ownership here is not incidental. Fortinsky has said Sweeney was "driving a lot of the visuals and the messaging" on the campaign. She approached Novig about an equity stake rather than being recruited; the size remains undisclosed. This is her campaign as much as Novig's, and the competitive attack on Kalshi reads like a decision she was part of.

The top-rated comment under the new ad: "Love that she doubles down on the hate." It cleared 30,000 likes by Monday. That single comment is the Novig marketing thesis in four words: the audience most likely to download a sports prediction app is not the same audience writing opinion columns about the male gaze.

Whether "No BS" outperforms the original in downloads is a 30-day number. Whether it made bigger and more specific enemies is already settled. Novig appears comfortable with that arrangement.

Sydney Sweeney's New Novig Ad Calls Out 'Insider Trading on Dictators Dying'

Sources & further reading

Novig's Depositors Tripled. 96% of the Internet Said 'Sweeney.'

Tupac's Killer Gets 40 Years. His Last Words at Sentencing: 'No, I'm Good.'

Ohio Ordered Novig to Stop. Sweeney Posted Another Ad.