Livvy Dunne is in a “cute lil jammy set Santa got me” when she answers questions from some of her 3.7 million adoring Instagram fans. You’ve probably never heard of her unless you spend a lot of time on TikTok. But twenty-year-old Olivia Paige Dunne is now the highest-valued women’s college athlete, with an estimated net worth of $3.3 million.
And fair play to her: at twenty years old, I was working for minimum wage as a waitress. I know very little about college sports or gymnasts such as Livvy, but nowadays having 7.1 million TikTok followers, as she does, means something. If she were to never partake in another event, she could still bring in a monthly salary far higher than most.
@livvy a bit of a stretch… #foryou #gymnastics
Livvy Dunne is at the arrow-tip of what is sure to be a new phenomenon: hot college athletes making a name for themselves beyond their college. Of course, Dunne isn’t the first female athlete to get attention for her looks more than her sporting ability — Anna Kournikova, Ana Ivanovic, Eugenie Bouchard and several other women’s tennis players have ensured that’s a well-worn track — but Livvy’s rise has coincided with the ability of athletes to make real money before they turn professional.
This is mainly thanks to the NIL (name, image, likeness) rule change. For the first time, college athletes can now receive compensation for third-party endorsements without their schools being involved (or, more importantly, taking a cut). Brands can now partner with college athletes as influencers to promote their products on social media.
And Dunne, a Louisiana State University gymnast, is projected to be the student who benefits the most from this rule change. Last year, she signed with WME Sports, activewear brand Vuori and even with Leaf Trading Cards, in a deal they described as a “historic partnership.” Dunne appears in what Leaf says is the “first gymnastics NIL trading card the world has ever seen,” adding that “Olivia Dunne is a generational talent that transcends sports with her millions of social media following.”
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But with all this fame and money and skimpy Lycra comes an inevitable downside: ogling men. Since achieving online fame, Livvy Dunne has gained somewhat of a mass following of horny high school boys, creeps and incels. The position she now finds herself in is the beamwalk of retaining engagement and interest from her fans while trying to avoid getting slavered over by some masturbating teenager. And it didn’t take long. Last week, Dunne publicly took down a thirsty fan who replied to one of her videos with the comment, “Mommy,” by replying, “No, I’m not going to crush your skull with my thighs. Also, I’m not your mommy.”
In a real-life spillover of feverish online fandom, Dunne’s admirers have been causing a scene at the sporting events she competes in. Videos with chants of “Give us Livvy” and “We want Livvy” have been labeled as “scary and disturbing” by other athletes. To me, they look more like a gender-flipped version of what you’d see outside Harry Styles or BTS concerts.
Therein lies the small contradiction at the heart of Dunne’s success. After all, she has essentially built her brand around being hot — which I massively respect — but then has publicly claimed that “as a woman, you’re not responsible for how a man looks at you and objectifies you. That’s not a woman’s responsibility.” Call me a cynic, but from what I see on her social media feed, which is mainly lingerie and mini skirts and captions like “Santa’s fav,” Dunne leans into the fact that she is now a sex symbol. In fact, at first glance, I didn’t know she was an athlete at all — she could pass for any another hot Instagram influencer.
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The outrage cycle helps propel her success: hot female athlete leans into the interest she’s getting for being a hot female athlete. Some fans go too far and insult or slaver over hot female athlete. Hot female athlete responds or “claps back.” News outlets write up that hot female athlete “clapped back” and use lots of her images and videos in their coverage. Hot female athlete gets more interest for being a hot female athlete and can monetize her increased following thanks to the attention. Rinse and repeat. Hey, it’s more honest work than OnlyFans, which is where other female sportswomen have been turning for income.
Nobody could blast Dunne for taking advantage of a system that was designed for this. You’ve got to make your money where you can.
