Olivia Dunne’s NIL Deals Might Get a Boost Amid NCAA’s $2.7 Billion Dilemma

Olivia Dunne is yet to take a final call on her fifth-year return, donning the purple leotard for LSU Tigers. But if she makes a positive call on staying in the LSU camp, she might get a chance to earn thousands more, barring her Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) deals and the credit will go to the NCAA. The NCAA and its five power conferences are making significant progress by discontinuing the current system of sharing college revenue, which is considered amateurish. With such an implementation, the governing bodies will channel more than $2.75 billion to the former and current Division 1 athletes directly. 

In the published news, the combined authority has termed it as the road map for upcoming days where American colleges will provide unique opportunities for athletes to grow. As the initial information is concerned, 22% of the average annual revenue from the schools under the banner (a gross projection of $20 million per school) will be delivered to the athletes’ bank account from next year. So that may account for several thousands more in the income of Olivia Dunne. However, the final ink is yet to be drawn on the deal. 

According to the regulation, Judge Claudia Wilken of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California will add the final approval on the submission. Then the forthcoming process will follow up. Based on those lined-up formalities, the changes might take place from the next year. Furthermore, the scholarship programs will continue but under the roster restrictions. But how such a change has come to the place where a reform was initiated in 2021 itself by allowing the NIL deals? 

The answer is the protest against the now-trashed rules that hindered the athletes from earning extra money through the deals dating to 2016. Consequently, the colleges would be granted a substantial sum of money to address the damages. 

However, after the primary $20 million cap, the ceiling could be changed with the increasing revenue. The revenues are mainly from broadcasting, ticket sales, merchandising, and other things. Being a social media ingenue, Olivia Dunne holds a sizable chunk in increasing the popularity of LSU Tigers in recent times. But till now, she has not been counted as the party while revenue sharing comes up. So after the ongoing class-action lawsuit, she might have a piece from it. But several more challenges are still awaiting to add further episodes on the issue. 

Could Olivia Dunne get an employer status? 

While finalizing the submission, it is still unclear how the NCAA will distribute the $2.77 billion among the athletes. Yet, in the presence of the NIL deals, the athletes are witnessing gradients of payments. So in that case, what will determine the payouts from the NCAA to such athletes? Another part is that several legal cases are pending in front of courts that might help to resolve the issues. The combined effort is to regard the student-athletes as employees. 

In those cases, the demand is to provide hourly wages to the student-athletes. But till now, such a proposition has faced strict opposition from the NCAA and other big names of its kind. Such issues are predominant in the college football and basketball programs. But would it advance to gymnastics as well? It could. Olivia Dunne gives a run for money when it comes to the NIL deals in overall college sports. So it may be the starting of many things.