Olivia Dunne's emerged as the woman with the highest Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) valuation - $3.9million - among collegiate athletes since personality rights were legalized in the US in 2021.
However, the 21-year-old gymnast has needed to bide her time to monetize her fame, considering that she first started her journey as a social media influencer in 2020, when she signed up on TikTok.
Initially, Dunne posted videos of her gymnastic routines but later started posting videos of other areas of her life as well, propelling her popularity to new heights.
As a result, in February of last year, Dunne was declared as the most-followed NCAA athlete on the platform with more than 7million followers. She has another 4million followers on Instagram.
But in recent months, her fame has hit new, dizzying levels, breaking out from social media.
Olivia Dunne's fame has exponentially gone up since NIL deals were legalized in the US in 2021
Away from the digital spotlight, Dunne reps' LSU Gymnastics, winning a national title this year
Dunne is popular among MLB fans, too, due to her romance with Pirates rookie Paul Skenes
The New Jersey native is still continuing to reap the fruits of her labor amid her fast-tracked success, especially in pro sports, now that she's dating highly-rated, 22-year-old MLB pitcher - Paul Skenes, of the Pittsburgh Pirates .
To prove Dunne's popularity nowadays, a young Pirates fan was asked his'favorite thing' about Skenes at a game in May, to which he replied the rookie's mustache and his girlfriend. Skenes confirmed his romance with Dunne in August of last year.
Dunne started raking in money when she signed with WME Sports in August 2021, becoming their first NIL athlete shortly after being projected to earn more than any other student due to her large social-media platform, which was a combined 5M followers across both Instagram and TikTok at the time of the rule change.
A month later, Dunne shared her first exclusive brand partnership with activewear brand Vuori. Since then, Dunne's gone onto sign endorsem*nt deals with more wide-known brands, such as Grubhub, Bodyarmor, American Eagle Outfitters and Nautica.
Last month, she was seen on the set of a commercial for Accelerator Active Energy Drinks with Kansas City Chiefs star and three-time Super Bowl champion, Travis Kelce.
That same month, Dunne also attended Sports Illustrated's 60th anniversary parties in New York City and Hollywood, Florida, joining the likes of fellow models and social media influencers, Paige Spiranac and Alix Earle. The gymnast joined the magazine in April of last year to kick start her modeling career.
Dunne, who's from New Jersey, is sponsored by Nautica, Accelerator Energy Drink and more, as she once stated that all her NIL endorsem*nt deals total seven figures
Shortly after raking in big money through her NIL deals, Dunne became an SI Swimsuit model
Today, the LSU gymnast has 13M followers on social media: 5.1 on Instagram & 7.9M on TikTok
Dunne revealed during an appearance on the morning program Today last year that her endorsem*nt deals total seven figures.
But, fame and endorsem*nts don't come without their own troubles, as in February 2023, Dunne was criticized for posting a paid-sponsorship video to TikTok promoting Caktus.AI with the caption 'Needing to get my creativity flowing for my essay due at midnight.'
The video showed her generating an essay using the service, with the camera then panning to show a shocked expression on the star, concluding with the caption 'Caktus.AI > ChatGPT.'
LSU later issued a statement, which said in part: 'using AI to produce work that a student then represents as one's own could result in a charge of academic misconduct, as outlined in the Code of Student Conduct.'
In January 2023, a large group of fans showed up to LSU's opening meet of the season at Utah to support Dunne. Some of these fans were reportedly harassing members of both gymnastics teams as well as journalists both during and after the meet.
As a result of the incident, LSU hired additional security staff for the team and implemented increased safety measures including disallowing LSU gymnasts to go into the stands after a meet. Following the incident, Dunne posted a statement to Xrequesting that her fans be more respectful.
Despite her high NIL valuation, Dunne's found trouble through her sponsors and rise to fame
Dunne and Xander Pohl (L) attending the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit party on May 17 in Florida
Dunne has also previously been vocal about her fears of safety on campus after revealing disturbing messages and approaches from stalkers, as she bids on her decision to return to LSU for a fifth and final year.
Meanwhile, in July 2023, Dunne shared that she had been earning more than $500k for a single social media post online.
Later that month, Dunne announced that she had partnered with Bayou Traditions to launch The Livvy Fund, a program that connects female student athletes at LSU with top brands to secure NIL endorsem*nt deals.
Dunne's also found fame through LSU gymnastics this year, as the team won its first national championship title in program history in April. She was seen serving Raising Caine's near LSU's campus in Baton Rouge, where her popularity is at an all-time high.
Next up for Dunne is her inclusion on The Money Game, an NIL-focused docuseries by Prime Video that followed her, Commanders rookie QB Jayden Daniels, WNBA star rookie Angel Reese, and Flau'jae Johnson through LSU's 2023-24 sports season.
