Martina Navratilova gets real about her exclusion in Aryna Sabalenka & Caitlin Clark-powered Nike Super Bowl ad despite 'defending women’s sports'

Martina Navratilova recently addressed her exclusion from a Nike Super Bowl advertisement that featured the likes of Aryna Sabalenka and Caitlin Clark, despite her "defending women’s sports." The ad also included A'ja Wilson, Jordan Chiles, and Sha'Carri Richardson, among others.

The Super Bowl LIX championship game saw the Philadelphia Eagles triumph over the Kansas City Chiefs with a score of 40-22 to win their second Super Bowl title and prevent the Chiefs from achieving a historic three-peat.

During the halftime show featuring Kendrick Lamar, Nike aired their new "So Win" commercial that featured athletes like Aryna Sabalenka, Caitlin Clark, Jordan Chiles, and Sha'Carri Richardson.

Reacting to the commercial, radio host Julie Gunlock criticized it for not including the likes of Martina Navratilova, Riley Gaines, Payton McNabb, and Kim McGinnis Russell, who have all "defended women's sports," seemingly pointing to their dislikes for the inclusion of transgender athletes in women's sports.

“It’s patronizing. Women aren’t oppressed. Also, if @Nike really wanted to support female athletes, they’d feature @Riley_Gaines_ @Martina @bfheartwarrior @paytonmcnabb_ and all the other brave woman who defended women’s sports. @IWF," Gunlock wrote.

Replying to Gunlock, Navratilova stated that Nike avoided associating with those critical of the inclusion of transgender athletes in women's sports.

“They wouldn’t touch us with a 10 foot pole, as they say," Navratilova posted on X.

As per her social media, Martina Navratilova has been a longstanding critic of transgender athletes competing in women's sports.

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Martina Navratilova on how her being gay stopped her from getting deals & commercials in America: “I lost by being out, I lost in millions"

Martina Navratilova pictured speaking to the press [Image Source: Getty Images]

Earlier while speaking on the 'On with Kara Swisher' podcast, Martina Navratilova discussed the challenges she faced after coming out as gay. She revealed that after coming out she experienced a significant decline in sponsorship deals, which resulted her in losing money in millions.

“Nobody said no, but nobody said yes either. I can't say how much money I lost by being out, but it's in millions, there's no doubt about that," Navratilova said.

Navratilova also shared that she struggled to secure deals in America despite her being the World No. 1 at the time,

“I got deals in Japan, but not in America. You didn't see any commercials," she added . “So, I didn't have any deals except shoes, rackets, and clothing, but even though I was #1 in '78-'79 before I was out. And when I did start dominating the tour, I still didn't get any deals in the States outside of that."

Martina Navratilova is widely recognized as one of the greatest tennis players in history. She boasts of winning 59 Grand Slam titles in her career - including 18 singles titles, 31 women's doubles titles, and 10 mixed doubles titles