Jacob Fortinsky on Women in Sports

Disputes concerning how women athletes and women’s sport are portrayed, marketed, or discussed publicly.

How we classify topics

Condemned0No statements. Not selected. Activate to add.Defended or excused1Statements: September 15, 2026. Selected filter. Activate to remove.Challenged the characterization0No statements. Not selected. Activate to add.Minimized0No statements. Not selected. Activate to add.Mixed or conditional1Statements: September 15, 2026. Not selected. Activate to add.Explicitly stayed out0No statements. Not selected. Activate to add.

Counts show individual statements. They do not assign an overall position.

By category Timeline

Statement history

1 statement on this page. Dates: September 15, 2026

1 matching statement. Dates: September 15, 2026

2 published statements. Dates: September 15, 2026

Jacob Fortinsky
Role at the time: Co-founder and CEO, Novig
September 15, 2026Defended or excused
Statement summary
Novig CEO Jacob Fortinsky said the campaign never intended to portray women’s sport and that Sweeney drove its creative direction.
“We never intended to portray female sports. Sydney’s an actress, the biggest movie star in the world. We’re a prediction market that is focused on sports, and that is the story that she was communicating... It really was Sydney who was driving the visuals and the messaging.”
Open source (opens in a new tab)

Novig CEO defends Sydney Sweeney ad, knew people who ‘hate her’ would be ‘loud’

Report on Jacob Fortinsky’s Front Office Sports interview defending the ad after the backlash, syndicated from USA Today’s For The Win.

Why we used this label

Fortinsky defends the campaign as never having intended to portray women’s sport and frames the backlash as expected and not a fair reading of the ad’s purpose — an express defense of the conduct under scrutiny.

Read statement Sydney Sweeney’s Novig "Just Sports" ad draws backlash over sexualizing women’s sport