by By: Terra McGowan
July 1, 2021 will forever be known as the day that the college athletics landscape shifted into a new era. On this date the NCAA made a monumental step for student-athletes by officially passing nationwide NIL legislation. This bill has allowed athletes to leverage their name, image, and likeness in exchange for financial compensation. Name, image, and likeness has given athletes the opportunity to partake in; third-party endorsements, social media influencing, personal business ventures, merchandising, and so much more. Out of all the ways student-athletes are now able to make money, social media has quickly become one of the quickest and easiest ways for athletes to be compensated. Without the usage of social media, the NIL playing field would have most likely skewed towards benefitting male athletes over female athletes. However, due to the huge role social media has played in NIL, female student-athletes have been able to monetize themselves at a higher rate.
Throughout the past two years we have seen a select few student athletes soar to the top of the NIL landscape. These athletes have been able curate their platforms and turn themselves into multimillion-dollar products. To date, no other female-athlete in the college space has been able to leverage their social media presence better than LSU gymnast, Olivia Dunne. Amongst a generation of outstanding female competitors, Livvy currently holds the crown for being the highest-paid NCAA female athlete.
At only 20 years old Livvy has amassed over 7.3 Million followers on TikTok, 3.8 Million on Instagram, and 74.7 Thousand on Twitter. In addition, the LSU gymnast has earned herself an NIL evaluation of roughly $2.7 Million. Now, we know that numbers like these don’t just happen over night. So how did Livvy build such a large platform for herself leading up to the passage of NIL?
The gymnast’s social media career started to take off in 2017 when she was added the United States National Team roster. She primarily posted on Instagram at this time. Following her year-long stint with the National team, Livvy continued her athletic career by signing to compete at Louisiana State University. Becoming a college athlete, especially at a Division 1, SEC school helped Livvy expand her follower-base and grow her social accounts. By 2020, Livvy had already gained hundreds of thousands of followers on Instagram, but the platform TikTok was taking off. After a year of posting on TikTok and competing at LSU Olivia Dunne had become the most followed NCAA athlete, male or female. Fast forward to present day, Livvy has been crowned the top NIL earner in female sports with a 2.4 million NIL valuation at the sheer age of 20.
In only 2 years of NIL Olivia Dunne has worked with notable brands such as Forever 21, Vuori, Grammarly, Revolve, and many more. As of now she has worked with over twenty different brands with content ranging from Instagram posts to TikToks and even commercial photoshoots. With her last year of college eligibility and NIL opportunities on the horizon I would expect the 2023-2024 season to be filled with tons of new content and high-value deals for Livvy.
I am very surprised to learn how Livvy gained her following. I had heard of her before but didn’t know she was posting on Instagram prior to her TikTok gaining millions of followers. I thought this piece was very well written!
This is a great examination of the ways that social media has grown since its origins, the piece demonstrates how social media has become a way to grow a personal brand, largely through partnering with more established brands. Collegiate athletes recent ability to monetize themselves is revolutionary for what it means to be an influencer and to have a personal brand. Theirs unique position as influential members of their colleges make them stand apart from other influencers online. I think this piece adresses both the concept of influence and the concept of monetization online incredibly well, through a relevant and concise example.
Wow, what an excellent blog post! The passage of the national NIL legislation on July 1, 2021, has opened up new opportunities for student-athletes to leverage their name, image, and likeness for financial compensation. It’s inspiring to see how female student-athletes like LSU gymnast Olivia Dunne have been able to monetize themselves at a higher rate due to the enormous role social media has played in NIL. Her success on platforms like TikTok and Instagram is a testament to her hard work and dedication to growing her social media presence. Thinking about the future for Olivia Dunne and other student-athletes with the continued opportunities for NIL deals is exciting. I can’t wait to see what kind of new content and high-value deals Livvy will be able to secure during her last year of college eligibility. Overall, this blog post is an insightful and thought-provoking read. Thank you for sharing!
I think it’s really interesting when student-athletes give an inside look into their lives like Olivia Dunne. This reminds me of when large events are happening, such as the Olympics, and all of the athletes were giving “behind the scenes” TikToks of what they do in a day. I think that it’s a new and trendy way of gaining followers and also awareness of what student-athletes and pro-athletes go through.
It’s interesting now how people are gaining a following based on the fact that they look like Livvy. I think that says a lot about how popular she is considering these girl are gaining millions of followers. I think Livvy does a good job of incorporating gymnastics into her social media as well. I also thought it was interesting for her to get an NIL deal about an AI program that helps students write their papers, you would think that would be against some code of conduct. It will be fun to see what Livvy decides to do with her future.
This is a great post! I was unaware that Olivia Dunne began her social media career on Instagram, and this blog post provides an incredible analysis of using social media to establish a personal brand. Social media allows public figures, including athletes, to share an insider perspective on their daily lives and routines which helps them attract genuine followers and build a personal brand. The added level of being a student-athlete on top of having a social media presence creates an interesting conversation about NIL, especially in terms of monetary gain. Thank you for sharing!