LSU gymnast Olivia Dunne, who is entering her final year at the university, has become one of the most successful Internet and NIL stars in college sports, but fame and fortune have not come without a boatload of detractors.
Dunne has earned the highest NIL valuation of any female athlete and ranks third on the overall list of all college athletes with a $3.2 million rating.
As a cute, petite, blonde woman, she has earned millions of followers and tens of millions in endorsement contracts and other deals.
But she also insists that, despite the dismissive attitude of her detractors, her success is also due in large part to a huge dollop of hard work and excellence at her sport.
“People definitely discredit what I do,” Dunne told Sports Illustrated. “People need to understand that I’ve worked for everything I’ve earned. I’ve spent years building an audience, and brands pay me for what they believe is worth the reach of the demographic that I offer.”
“Me being at the forefront, the most important thing for me was to give back,” she said.
Dunne, who has 7.8 million followers on TikTok and 4.4 million on Instagram, is also working to help future athletes and recently announced the creation of the Livvy Fund, a program meant to help other LSU women athletes connect with brands and sponsors.
“There’s definitely an underlying problem, which is that the money needs to go to support women’s sports because there’s not many [lucrative] professional leagues for women’s sports after college,” Dunne explained.
“So it’s really important that women can capitalize on it now while they’re in college,” she said.
The fame has had an impact on her schooling, as well. This year, she admitted that she can no longer attend class like a normal LSU student because her presences is often disruptive and she does not feel safe wandering around campus.
One example of a “safety issue” was seen in Jan. when she showed up at the Tigers’ season opener against Utah in Salt Lake City.
Her appearance sparked hundreds of young fans to show up at the Jon M. Huntsman Center to catch a glimpse of Dunne. It was a crowd big enough to elicit a large police presence to keep things orderly.
Dunne told Elle magazine that the incident was a shock to the system and surprised everyone.
“It was our first meet of the season,” Dunne said. “I knew that my success had grown from the years prior, but I did not expect there to be that many people out there to see me and my team.
“I didn’t really realize until after the meet when I saw the videos of it. I was like, ‘Holy moly.’”
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