A USA Today column arguing that American sports treat women without “even the slightest shred of decency” is facing sharp criticism for the evidence it uses to make that case.
Columnist Nancy Armour, writing Tuesday, pointed to three examples: a sports-betting advertisement featuring actress Sydney Sweeney, a laughing comment from Texas quarterback Arch Manning about an AI-generated video, and an architectural rendering of Philadelphia’s future arena that showed almost no women.
Critics, including Outkick, say none of the three examples hold up as evidence of a broader pattern against women in sports.
The Sweeney Ad
The ad in question was produced by sports-betting company Novig and features Sweeney using sex appeal to promote its prediction market. Armour wrote that “a betting company tells women their only place in sports is as a sexualized object.”
But according to Novig CEO Jacob Fortinsky, Sweeney approached the company herself, owns equity in it, and drove much of the campaign’s “visuals and messaging.” Fortinsky has publicly defended the ad and said the company was pleased with the response — the opposite of the “backpedaling” Armour attributed to him, according to a linked story whose own headline said the CEO “defends” the campaign.
The Manning Comment
The second example stems from a postgame press conference after Texas’ comeback win over Ohio State. Asked whether he’d seen fan-made clips from the game, Manning volunteered that he’d seen an AI-generated edit of Texas coach Steve Sarkisian’s postgame interview with ESPN’s Holly Rowe. “Of him slapping Holly Rowe?” Manning said, laughing. “It’s hilarious.”
The real exchange that inspired the parody video was awkward but not violent: Rowe tried to interview Sarkisian moments after Texas’ 20-point comeback, Sarkisian shouted “Texas fight,” flashed the Hook ’em sign and left to celebrate with his team, and Rowe responded by throwing up her hands and walking off. Texas said technical issues with ESPN’s equipment contributed to the failed interview, echoing a similar problem at halftime that ESPN’s Laura Rutledge said the network owed Sarkisian an apology for.
Manning later issued a public apology, spoke privately with Rowe, and received her forgiveness. Armour nonetheless wrote that his apology “doesn’t matter” because “the damage was done.”
The Arena Rendering
The third example — an architectural rendering of Philadelphia’s future arena that included almost no women — was replaced within two days of drawing attention. The arena is set to house the city’s WNBA team.
An Academic Backing
To tie the three episodes together, Armour cited Purdue professor Cheryl Cooky, who told her the pattern reflects “a reinscribing of those spaces and a reassertion of those sports as male-dominated and masculine-oriented institutions,” and that backlash follows when women gain power. Cooky co-authored a study examining the volume and quality of women’s sports coverage on select television programs during three periods in 2024 — research that does not address the motives behind the Sweeney ad, Manning’s comment, or the arena image.
A Different Standard
Critics also note an inconsistency in Armour’s broader record. In 2023, Armour wrote an 800-word column attacking then-ESPN host Sam Ponder for arguing that women deserve fair, sex-based athletic competition, accusing Ponder of using “fairness” to cloak “bigotry toward transgender girls and women.” Armour has also criticized former college swimmer Riley Gaines, who has spoken out against male athletes competing in women’s sports.
Armour’s column also acknowledges that women’s sports have “never been more popular,” citing rising WNBA ratings, franchise values and salaries, Nike signature lines for Caitlin Clark and A’ja Wilson, women coaching in the NFL and NBA, and new stadiums built for women’s teams.
The juxtaposition — sweeping claims of institutional misogyny alongside acknowledged record levels of investment and visibility for women’s sports — is at the center of the pushback against the column.
