Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Alex Call is demanding that Major League Baseball and its broadcast partners pull sexually charged commercials from postseason telecasts, saying the ads make it impossible for him to watch playoff games with his young son.
Call aired his frustration Wednesday on X, tagging TBS, Fox, NBC and the league itself while asking for what he described as “soft porn ads” to be removed from playoff broadcasts. According to the Daily Wire, which first reported on the outfielder’s post, Call wrote that his son wants to watch baseball with him but he struggles to justify it when “a half-naked women could come on screen anytime.” He closed by invoking the sport’s nickname, saying parents “shouldn’t have to worry about this” during America’s Pastime.
A Father’s Complaint Sparks the Outfielder’s Response
Call’s post was itself a reply to another frustrated parent, who had catalogued the commercial lineup he and his children sat through during a playoff game, the Daily Wire reported. That father’s list included actress Megan Fox selling erectile dysfunction medication while wearing a red bodysuit, a trailer for a horror film, and “Sydney Sweeney in zero clothes promoting betting on sports.”
“Leagues can’t figure out why kids don’t watch,” the father wrote, per the Daily Wire. “You don’t need a Nickelodeon game. You’re not the Savannah Bananas. Just show baseball in a way I can leave on in my house.”
The exchange points to a broader tension facing MLB as it sells commercial inventory during its most-watched games. The league’s own advertising rules, as cited in the Daily Wire report, allow it to reject or pull any spot that “could reflect negatively on MLB,” or that is “obscene, profane, in bad taste or offensive” — language that would appear to give the commissioner’s office latitude to act if it chose to.
Sweeney’s Nude Ad Draws Fire From Female Athletes
The spot drawing the most attention is a campaign for Novig, a sports prediction market that launched nationwide in August and markets itself as the only such platform with a 21-and-over age limit. Sweeney, the Daily Wire reported, is an equity holder in the company, and Novig’s CEO described her as the de facto creative director of the commercial.
The first ad, released September 9, features Sweeney perched naked on a basketball hoop with footballs, shoulder pads, hockey gear and baseball mitts used as cover. After it debuted, female athletes accused the actress of sexualizing women’s sports, according to the Daily Wire. Sweeney lost 136,848 Instagram followers in a single day, though the outlet reported her numbers quickly rebounded and the ad went on to rack up more than 40 million views.
Rather than retreat, Sweeney released a second spot on October 11 that ends with her topless, holding two footballs against her chest.
Fox’s ED Pill Commercial Adds to the Backlash
The other ad at the center of the complaint features Fox cast as “Ro Sparks,” a compounded erectile dysfunction tablet from a telehealth company that blends the active ingredients in Viagra and Cialis. The drug is not FDA-approved, per the Daily Wire.
That commercial debuted during NBC and Peacock’s coverage of the MLB Wild Card series, with Fox speaking about the product’s ingredients in a sultry voice and making jokes about home delivery and “discreet” packaging.
Together, the two campaigns have turned playoff commercial breaks into an unexpected front in the debate over what families see when they tune into live sports — a debate that now has a current major leaguer lending it his platform.
It remains unclear whether MLB or any of the networks Call named have responded to his request or plan to adjust their advertising rotations. The league has not publicly commented on the outfielder’s post, and neither Novig nor the telehealth company behind the Fox spot has issued a statement in response to the criticism.
For now, the ads are scheduled to keep running as the postseason continues — and Call’s post has ensured the debate over their placement will play out in public view rather than in a network’s ad-sales department.
Source: www.dailywire.com — https://www.dailywire.com/news/dodgers-player-slams-soft-porn-during-baseball-games-as-sweeneys-nude-ad-hits-screens