Community Strong Australia Teal MP Zali Steggall has condemned Sydney Sweeney’s widely criticised gambling commercial, arguing that the actress’s appearance is being used to attract men and encourage them to wager potentially substantial amounts of money.
The Warringah representative, who once competed for Australia as an Olympic skier, described the sports betting advertisement as offensive and warned that it promotes a damaging message to both young women and men.
The campaign features Sweeney wearing little or no clothing as she parodies tennis, golf, baseball and ice hockey before urging viewers to place bets on “just sports”.
Among the commercial’s provocative scenes, Sweeney appears topless while seated on a basketball hoop and later reclines on a pool table.
Long before entering federal politics, Steggall established herself as one of Australia’s leading winter sports athletes, competing at four consecutive Winter Olympics between 1992 and 2002.
At the 1998 Nagano Games, she won bronze in the slalom, becoming the first Australian woman and, as she has described it, the first Australian athlete to secure an individual Winter Olympic medal.
Reflecting on her own career, Steggall said she had repeatedly faced pressure to take part in sexualised campaigns and display her body in ways that left her uncomfortable and diminished her standing as an athlete.
She said women in sport had spent decades fighting to be respected for their ability, describing female athletes as serious, competitive, strong and powerful.
Steggall has criticised the advertising campaign starring US actress Sydney Sweeney (pictured).
Steggall is one of several female athletes around the world to speak out against the commercial.
“That’s why the Sydney Sweeney gambling advertising campaign is so incredibly disappointing and just offensive,” Steggall said.
According to the independent MP, the campaign exploits a woman’s body to promote sports betting while undermining the progress and achievements of women in sport.
“It uses a woman’s body to sell sports betting while reducing women’s sport to a sexualised punchline,” she said.
Steggall argued that the approach belongs to an outdated advertising formula that should be abandoned, particularly as the gambling industry already targets young men heavily through its links with professional sport.
The Sydney Sweeney betting advertisement has attracted millions of online views and triggered a wave of criticism from athletes and sporting organisations.
Steggall questioned who the campaign was intended to attract and what message it sends to young Australians.
‘Who profits? Who is this being marketed to, and what does it reinforce to young girls watching this?’ she said.
‘As an Olympian, I have an athlete’s body. I am strong, I am powerful, I love what my body is capable of.’
‘It doesn’t look like what Sydney Sweeney and others show. It comes in all shapes and sizes.’
Zali Stegall (right) won a Bronze Medal at the 1998 Nagano Winter Olympics in the slalom
Steggall also addressed young men directly, warning that the ad was designed to use sex appeal to drive gambling engagement.
‘To young men, don’t be fooled. This is a gambling company trying to lure you using sex to get your attention so you can lose your money,’ she said.
‘Women’s bodies and women’s sport deserve so much better.’
Steggall’s comments add to a growing chorus of criticism from current and former athletes, including Australian Olympians, who argue the campaign rolls back efforts to have women’s sport judged on achievement, not appearance.
Swimming star Ariarne Titmus called the ad ‘an absolute joke’ on Instagram.
The Australian Institute of Sport responded by posting a video of female athletes with the caption ‘THIS is sport’.
