Practicing her hands in the NIL (name, image, and likeness) deals since 2021, Olivia Dunne can boast of herself as being an expert in the field. Her current NIL valuation of $4 million not only stands among the top leagues, but the trend in landing enviable deals tells why she is exceptional. However, for the gymnast, the journey to reach this point has never been easy. She has already shed light on this, coming from a sport that needs perfection relentlessly. Now, one of her teammates in the LSU Tigers has narrated another complication. 

According to Livvy’s colleague, the initial days in the NIL lane had been a test for the athletes. However, despite facing setbacks, she had to make her position in the bunch who were chasing the lucrative deals in the college years. So, she had to find a way out. 

A desperate attempt to leave the fold of novices 

The Amazon Prime presented docuseries, The Money Game Season 1, gives tidbits regarding the NIL deals’ entry in the LSU Tigers camp. However, the first episode of the series, The Wild West displays the initial days when names like Olivia Dunne, Jayden Daniels, and Alia Armstrong felt the heat of the deals for the first time. However, when a chunk of the names found a way out to deal with the brands, Alia felt out of the pack, failing to know the process. So naturally, the brands did not pay much heed to her. The track and field athlete from Orleans explained the situation: “When NIL came about, I had no idea what to do. I just think that I was kind of underlooked. And so I just really wanted to understand why I wasn’t getting these big name brands.” Her condition in her career was also not supportive at that moment. 

In 2022, Alia Armstrong had to face disqualification from the SEC Indoor Championships. The baggage of disqualification haunted her again at the NCAA Indoor finals, but Armstrong didn’t give up this time. She soon made her journey to the Moran Family Center for Athletic Administration to get the lesson regarding the deals. There, she found Mary Claire Logue and Taylor, helping her to learn the insider parts. Meanwhile, Alia’s steadfast reaction remained, “I’m too big of an athlete and too big of a name at LSU to not be making money.” But that wasn’t the end of the hassle. Olivia Dunne had special words elaborating on the issues that came with signing the deals. 

Olivia Dunne shares every step of the fiery route connecting NIL deals 

Joining her fifth year in the LSU Tigers, Olivia Dunne has become more outward to narrate her experience with the NIL deals. The 21-year-old gymnast from New Jersey had an option to duck Tiger Nation’s call to join the fold. However, she felt encouraged because of the NIL deals to join the club for the extended year. “Brands do like that I’m a student-athlete, I won’t lie,” she steadfastly revealed. But initially, because of the bizarre rules of the NCAA, the walk on the NIL lines wasn’t easy. 

As per the rules, the student-athletes were prohibited from accepting gifts from the brands. Livvy said, “You can’t take anything! You don’t want to risk it either because you can lose your NCAA eligibility, so it’s just not worth it. Taking a free sweatshirt or a free something, it’s not worth losing your eligibility.” However, the students could accept free goodies from the brands. This unfair treatment irked Dunne and her mother, Katherine. But looks like things are now better, thanks to the vehement protest against it!