Dodgers outfielder Alex Call has asked MLB and its broadcasters to take what he called “soft p*rn” ads off playoff games, apparently referring to Sydney Sweeney’s Novig ad. The reaction online has been split.
Dodgers outfielder Alex Call took to X earlier this week, asking MLB to pull an ad featuring Sydney Sweeney from playoff broadcasts. “Can we please get the soft p*rn ads off playoff broadcasts, TBS, Fox, NBC, @MLB? My son wants to watch baseball with Dada, but how do I justify that when a half-naked [woman] could come on screen anytime??” he wrote, adding: “This is America’s Pastime. Parents shouldn’t have to worry about this.”
His post was a reply to a fan, Taylor Murphy, who complained that while watching the playoffs with his kids he’d seen ads including “Sydney Sweeney in zero clothes promoting betting on sports.”
The ad behind the backlash
The ad in question is for Novig, a sports prediction market, and is part of its “Just Sports” campaign. It features Sweeney, 29, using footballs and other sports equipment to cover her naked body.
The ad has aired during both the ALCS and NLCS, and it has already drawn criticism from female athletes. Sprinter Amy Hunt, water polo player Tilly Kearns and rugby player Sofie Fella pushed back on it, with some saying it’s damaging to women’s sports.
Novig’s CEO, Jack Fortinsky, defended the campaign. He said the company is “hugely supportive of women’s sports” and never meant the ad to portray female athletes.
Sweeney has said she made it because she believes in the company’s leadership and message. After the first wave of criticism, she said in a follow-up ad: “There are grown men making spreadsheets to bet on what color underwear I’m wearing. I mean, I’m flattered?”
Can MLB actually pull it?
According to the Daily Beast, which cited the relevant document, MLB reserves the right to “reject or instruct” any partner to stop using an ad “during, or in connection with, any Baseball Programming Transmission.”
Reactions to Call’s post were mixed. “Thanks for spreading the message, Alex! It really is a shame,” one X user wrote. “Amen. Those ads have no place on TV especially with young children watching,” another said. One person added: “That, and the gambling ads. It is disgusting the way sports leagues have always fought against gambling, and now they are totally in bed with it.”
Others thought the backlash overblown. “Sexy commercials have been around since day 1. Only now do idiots have a problem with them,” one commenter wrote. Another, who said they’re a fan, took a middle path: “As a parent, I am responsible for creating a mindset and value system for my children… shielding them and/or blaming somebody else isn’t the answer. Explaining life and leading them through this crazy world is the only thing you have control of.”
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