The media superstar, leading female NIL athlete and successful entrepreneur isn’t known as Livvy Dunne to her teammates. To them, she’s just Liv.
Dunne’s rise to fame and beginning as a Tiger happened simultaneously. She joined the social media platform TikTok in 2020 and signed to LSU in the same year.
Since then, Dunne gained almost 7 million followers on Tiktok and 4 million followers on Instagram. In her athletic career, she’s gained three NCAA Tournament appearances and a Southeastern Conference Championship title.
Despite her seemingly flawless and luxurious lifestyle, Dunne’s rise to fame wasn’t all smooth-sailing.
After The New York Times criticized her success, crediting it to her “sex appeal,” Stanford women’s basketball coach Tara VanDerveer claimed that Dunne’s success was “a step back” for women athletes.
Dunne responded with a TikTok, captioning it “only taking steps forward.”
Despite her controversial rise to fame, Dunne persevered and ultimately became the highest paid female college athlete, profiting off of social media and her Name, Image and Likeness.
She signed with Vuori to create her own line of athletic wear, was a Sports Illustrated swimsuit model and was cited as one of Rolling Stone’s top 20 most influential creators.
In addition to this, Dunne launched her own fund, The Livvy Fund, to “assist female student-athletes in earning new opportunities within NIL,” according to the Livvy Fund website.
“The Livvy Fund is definitely part of the legacy that I want to leave,” Dunne said. “It’s progressed so well so far … I started with the gymnastics team to have a good starting point.”
With the Livvy Fund, she’s helped her own teammates including Konnor McClain, Ashley Cowan, Jillian Hoffman, Chase Brock, KJ Johnson, Haleigh Bryant, Sierra Ballard and Kiya Johnson, according to Sports Illustrated.
Although Dunne was making big moves for her brand, she was juggling many other things and quickly had to find balance in her life.
“My summers are usually pretty hectic, so it’s all about finding a balance,” Dunne said. “Between these brand deals that I put off during the season… and staying in shape to be a DI athlete, this year I had to find a different approach.”
Because she was dealing with so much outside of school, Dunne didn’t compete as regularly in the 2024 season. She took this as an opportunity to embrace a different role as a teammate.
Whether she was cheering on the side or going through warmups, Dunne was always ready to compete when asked.
She shined on senior night when she scored a career high exhibition score of 9.975 on beam, gaining a perfect 10 from one judge.
Dunne performed again at the SEC Championship, where she scored a 9.80 on bars.
“She’s doing everything right,” head coach Jay Clark said.
But she’s not finished yet. Dunne’s ultimate goal lies in Fort Worth, Texas, where she hopes to win a national championship.
Then lies the big question: What comes next?
Along with many of her other teammates, Dunne has another year of eligibility, but she’s unsure of whether she’ll use it.
“I could [come back], but I haven’t really thought about it yet,” Dunne said. “I’m so focused on the end of this year and bringing home the national championship.”
Her main goal at LSU was to inspire young girls that they can do whatever they want. She wanted to prove that boundaries are only meant to be broken.
“A big part of what I want to leave at LSU is that you can have it all,” Dunne said. “You can be a student, athlete and an entrepreneur. You can do it all and find success in all areas.”
Dunne, Bryant and Ballard are amongst many on the Tiger squad that have another year of eligibility. While Clark would welcome them back with open arms, the decision is ultimately up to the gymnasts.
Either way, it’s safe to say that Dunne left a long-lasting mark at LSU. She set the precedent for what NIL can do for women in sports.
The landscape for female athletes is changing, and Dunne is just one of the many that is proving that to be true.
