With the new year almost upon us, Olivia Dunne is preparing for a big 2024, which will begin with the LSU Tigers’ gymnastics season. The season, which starts on Jan. 5 against Ohio State, will see Dunne compete in her senior year.
Dunne, who has become a social media superstar with 4.6 million followers on Instagram, shared a TikTok with her 7.8 million followers on the platform. The clip shows her at the Maravich Center, looking at the empty seats in the arena.
Building the hype for the imminent season, she captioned the video with a request to her fans:
“Even prettier filled with 13,000 tiger fans😌 #lsu #gymnastics”
Dunne recently took to her IG stories to help spread the word, sharing an LSU gymnastics photo with the caption:
“Be there or be squared”
Olivia Dunne’s social media presence is a huge draw for the LSU Tigers
With millions of followers on social media, businesses are paying Olivia Dunne handsomely for sponsored content. Earlier this year, the gymnast told the “Full Send Podcast” that she was paid $500,000 for a single IG post, which was the most she had received thus far.
Dunne leads female collegiate athletes in terms of NIL money. On3 estimates her NIL valuation at $3.3 million, which ranks third in the US, behind only Bronny James ($5.9 million) and Shadeur Sanders ($4 million).
LSU is certainly set to benefit from her star power and attendance will be good at the Maravich Center this season. The LSU gymnastics team will be traveling with increased security in 2024, due to an incident in Utah in 2022.
Regarding her safety, Dunne told People Magazine in November:
“Actually, we’ve got it settled down a bit. We haven’t competed since last season, so we’ll see what this season holds. But after the incident in Utah that happened last year, we now have a security guard that travels with the LSU gymnastics team.”
With the public not being able to get enough of Olivia Dunne, LSU can only benefit from having such a popular figure as a key component of their gymnastics team. With regards to attendance, recruitment and reputation, Dunne is a shining star for the university.