If anyone has learned to capitalize monetarily through the NIL movement, it’s Olivia Dunne.
The LSU gymnast turned influencer is one of the most recognizable names among college athletes, especially since the NIL era, where they can make money off their name. Nine days after the law passed in the courts, Dunne posted a video of herself dancing to Destiny Child’s “Bills, Bills, Bills.”
Growing up in the presence of social media, she knew what this could mean for her, and she capitalized on it.
While Olivia, or Livvy as her friends call her, is a mere twenty years old, she is currently the highest-paid female athlete. With the fame of over 11.9 million followers across social media platforms come some crazy super fans, which can lead to safety concerns.
In a recent interview with Elle Magazine, the social media star opened up about balancing school and her influencing career, which brought up some past events that harmed her safety.
Back at the opening meet of the 2023 gymnastics season, a mob of men was there to watch the then-injured gymnast and caused quite the scene at the meet.
While the mob of men disrupted other competitors, they also were chanting phrases that sexualized the young athlete.
“It’s not a girl’s responsibility how a man looks at her or how he acts, especially when you’re doing your sport and that’s your uniform. I can’t help the way I look, and I’m going to post what I feel comfortable with.
It’s hard to handle at times, definitely, because I am just a 20-year-old student. I think people do forget that.”
After this instance, Dunne began traveling with security personnel to all NCAA meets.
As her popularity has not slowed down, Dunne revealed that she does not physically attend classes at LSU.
“There were some scares in the past, and I just want to be as careful as possible. I don’t want people to know my daily schedule and where I am.”
While she lives in the public eye, there are certain things that Dunne does not share, like her dating life. Given the past instances, can you blame her for wanting to be careful in case a crazed superfan comes out of the brush and bombards her?
While that point is valid, it also raises questions about other athletes not attending classes…they are called student-athletes for a reason.
Dunne has partnered with AI software in the past, so I’m sure her class papers will be done effortlessly…
While the NIL, I think, has been long overdue, it will be interesting to see how it is monitored. In Dunne’s case, it appears she has free will to do classes on her own time virtually, but will that be the case for all athletes that reach her level of fame?
Dunne ended the interview by saying that once she graduates, she plans to move to a beach, and she can return to what she was doing.
“Then I can just honestly go back to what I started doing. I could flip around on the beach. I could. That shows it all happened. All of this…
All these followers and this life.…”
While she will no longer be in the college athlete limelight once she graduates, I am not sure the way she is used to living will go back to a sense of “normal.”
In case you were not aware, influencers make boo-coo money on brand deals, so I have a hard time imagining she will be willing to give that up.
