LSU gymnast Olivia Dunne explains her motive behind The Livvy Fund: "I just want to fight for equal NIL opportunities"

LSU gymnast Olivia Dunne has had a meteoric rise to becoming one of the most recognizable college athletes in the country.

Her social media following is the highest among student-athletes in the country. She has 7.6 TikTok and 4.2 million Instagram followers, dwarfing notable names like Angel Reese and Caitlin Clark.

Her following has given her massive clout with brands while negotiating endorsement deals. She is only behind Bronny James in On3's NIL (Name, Image, Likeness) 100 ranking with a $3.5 million valuation.

Olivia Dunne announced that she was starting 'The Livvy Fund'. The fund is aimed at helping female LSU athletes find brands to partner with for NIL deals. She explained the motivation behind starting the fund.

"The collectives mostly go to the men's sports here at LSU and I just want to fight for equal NIL opportunities."

As a relative veteran in the world of brand partnerships, the fund is Dunne's way of giving back. She aims to educate her fellow female athletes on how to brand themselves and how to negotiate endorsement deals with brands in different industries.

She explained to Sports Illustrated what she hopes to achieve with the fund.

“I really just hope that [The Livvy Fund] is the first of many. I really hope to get as many women student athletes on board as I can. I want to continue to elevate women’s sports as a whole because they really deserve the same publicity as the men’s. We do equal work, we put in equal time in our facilities every day and in school, so I feel like it would be right for this to be equal.”

LSU gymnast Olivia Dunne's rise to queen of NIL

Last year, she was featured in a New York Times article that insinuated that the only reason Olivia Dunne was getting endorsement deals was because of her looks. It further stated that she used suggestive pictures to boost her NIL profile.

Dunne fought back immediately, posting a racy picture on Instagram and tagging the New York Times with the caption:

"@Nytimes is this too much?"

Apparently, her standing up to them, netted her a deal with Sports Illustrated.

She was featured in the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition and has gained a multitude of fans. Dunne's fans follow her everywhere. It caused a controversial moment during a gymnastics meet in Utah earlier in the year. LSU had to beef up security to stop Dunne's fans from disrupting such events.