Who is Olivia Dunne? Meet America's MOST INFLUENTIAL college athlete worth a whopping $2.3M
WESTWOOD, NEW JERSEY: Olivia Dunne has plenty of reasons to celebrate on her birthday, besides turning 20. The LSU gymnast has been named the most influential female college athlete all thanks to her massive social media following and profitable sponsorship deals. Dunne has reportedly topped On3's NIL Valuation which calculates an athlete's name, image, and likeness (NIL). She has a valuation of $2.3M, according to On3 sports. Olympic gymnast turned NCAA star Sunisa Lee takes up the second spot on the list with a valuation of $ 1.5M while UConn basketball player Paige Bueckers is right behind her at $816,000.
Besides being an all-round gymnast with the LSU Tigers, Dunne is a social media personality with 2.2 million admirers on Instagram and more than six million on Tiktok. The New Jersey native also has marked quite a figure on Twitter with 30,000 followers. The high numbers altogether make her the most-followed female NCAA athlete. Moreover, the huge social media following has resulted in Dunne becoming a millionaire at just 18.
READ MORE
Figure skater Bridget Namiotka who accused former partner John Coughlin of sexual abuse dead at 32
Gymnast Olivia Dunne tops list of most influential female college athletes https://t.co/xKnwQAEuN0
— NY Breaking (@ny_breaking) October 8, 2022
Dunne began her career in sports at the age of three. She soon developed an interest in gymnastics. After years of endless competition, she made her debut at the 2014 American Classic and went on to join the US national gymnastics team three years later. In August 2020, she competed at Lousiana State University. By the age 18, she was force to be reckoned with.
In August 2021, Dunne had a total of five million social media followers which has elevated to more than eight million. Previously, NCAA did not allow athletes to make money off of their online fame. She makes $31,000 through each social media post. However, it went through a change in June 2021.
According to NY Post, following a rule change regarding using NCAA's name, image, and likeness, Dunne began endorsing a number of lucrative brand deals with clothing companies, food and beverages among others. The young gymnast landed a WEE sports partnership for her presentation in August. This was followed by another exclusive brand deal with the activewear brand Vuori in September.
Brands such as PlantFuela, a protein and supplements company, Bartleby, a study tool for college students that is owned by Barnes & Noble, TooFaced cosmetics, GrubHub, Madden/EA Sports, and American Eagle were next in line. It is safe to say that the spree of brand deals helped a lot in the moneymaking process for the gymnast.