Popular gymnast and NCAA champion Olivia Dunn explained the importance of expanding brand and marketing opportunities for female athletes during their time in college.
Dan charges $125,000 per social media post to promote his products. His name, image and likeness are valued at $4 millionHer brand makes her the second-highest-paid NIL athlete in the country, according to the website On3.
Dan's recent sponsorships include monetization platform Pass and a sportswear deal. NauticaWith more than 13 million social media followers, she has successfully monetized the rights to her image, despite being involved in gymnastics, a sport not typically associated with high salaries.
Dunn, who has chosen to attend Louisiana State University for her fifth year, revealed in a recent interview why remaining enrolled as a college athlete is so important to her brand.
“For women, it's really important to make the most of your NIL while you're in college because in most women's sports there aren't many professional leagues after college,” Dunn confessed.
“I think it's important to build a strong brand that will last after you graduate,” she said. New York Post.
Dan has been a model for Sports Illustrated magazine. 2023 She has expressed an interest in monetizing her relationship with the brand after college, an acknowledgment that the true marketing value of female NCAA athletes comes from transcending sports and achieving cultural breakthroughs on social media.
Female athletes are finding it beneficial to continue their NCAA careers as long as possible rather than turning professional to gain popularity and attract sponsorship.
This was made clear by NCAA athletes. Cavinder The twin sisters are returning to the University of Miami for their fifth year of basketball. While they are not sports trailblazers or national champions like Dan, they have successfully branched out into the influencer realm, scoring deals with brands such as: Under Armour.
The three-year deal, combined with their social media presence, will allow the Cabindars to maintain their brand power even after they leave college sports.
“I think social media can really make it look glamorous, and it can really make life look glamorous.”
The reality is that female college athletes enjoy greater visibility in the NCAA through national television contracts, tournaments and the vibrancy of college campuses.
In sports like gymnastics and basketball, the typical end goal is to become an Olympian or make it to the WNBA, but aside from rare cases like Olympian Simone Biles and WNBA star Kaitlyn Clark, exposure in these sports is extremely limited.
“Girls don't know where to start,” Dunn said of college girls finding NIL contracts, and she started a foundation at LSU called the Livi Fund to help female athletes in just that situation.
Getting started is sometimes “half the battle,” the gymnast continued. “So I definitely want to do something. [in NIL] Overall, after I graduate from LSU, and hopefully beyond LSU, I want to expand and educate people and help girls. … I've always loved sports, so I definitely want to do something in the sports field.”
In a recent documentary, Dan spoke about how social media shapes an athlete's image among audiences.
“I feel like social media can really glamorize things and really glamorize a life that isn't always like that… [Viewers] I'd like to get an inside look at how he balances sports, school and NIL.”
What this really means is that female athletes need to maximize their online presence while choosing the school that will give them the most exposure and the chance to grow their audience.
Former NCAA swimmer Caitlin Wheeler told The Blaze News how noticeable this new change is for college athletes.
“[NIL deals] “It's changed the way students look at potential programs,” Wheeler said, “how students choose schools and how programs recruit. … It's important to go to a school that's going to give you the best conditions for your athletes.”
“There was definitely a time when my love for the sport waned.”
Dunn explained that balancing her sport with her growing fame had become very difficult for her, but she seemed to realize that gymnastics was the backbone of her brand, which led to her returning to the NCAA for another year.
“There was definitely a time when my love for sports waned,” she said. “My sophomore and junior years were a really hard balance. Balancing school and sports was really hard and I didn't have anyone to take over because no one had done it before. So I had to carve my own path and find what worked for me.”
Dunn said she has rediscovered her love for sports, and that is indeed the main reason she decided to return to LSU.
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