Novig hires through ad backlash as equity-for-celebrity model faces scrutiny
Novig posted two New York-based job openings — an Affiliate GTM Lead and an IT Specialist — as its Sydney Sweeney equity-for-endorsement ad campaign draws public backlash. The sports prediction market platform opened nationwide trading on August 4. A Facebook post from Thought Catalog framed the sex-sells advertisement as a broader referendum on women. Novig aims to build America's top sports prediction market and offers meaningful equity in its compensation packages.
Novig is recruiting affiliate and technical staff while its Sweeney campaign reels from athlete-led criticism, testing whether equity-for-celebrity deals survive public pressure better than Polymarket's $15 million annual LeBron James payout. The backlash narrows Novig's safe advertising channels and pressures networks or publishers to restrict the spot.
Sweeney bears that downside because she holds equity rather than a fixed fee. If the controversy forces a creative pull, rivals will treat star talent as a cash-only line item. Kelly Stafford's athlete-led criticism already showed the reputational risk this model carries. The conversion data Novig harvests this quarter will determine whether competitors copy its ownership structure or Polymarket's fixed-cost benchmark.