LSU’s Reese, Dunne featured on cover of Sports Illustrated
BATON ROUGE – Two of the biggest names in LSU sports are also two of the biggest moneymakers in collegiate athletics — and are the focal point of a new cover story by Sports Illustrated.
Basketball star Angel Reese and gymnast Olivia Dunne are noted by the magazine as two of the top-10 earners in the country by way of NIL — Name, Image, Likeness — income.
Reese’s profile skyrocketed in the past year as the LSU Tigers won their first basketball national championship. Dunne — part of a gymnastics Final Four squad this year — has claimed a top spot among athletes engaged in social media.
The report in SI is part of a deeper dive into the relationship between sports and finance.
The cover photo features a caption that reads: Generation NIL — Why the LSU Women’s Program Rules the New College Sports Economy.
It reads, in part: On3, which tracks NIL deals, ranks LSU gymnast Olivia Dunne as the No. 3 earner in the country—after only Bronny James and Shedeur Sanders, sons of star athletes LeBron and Deion—with an estimated valuation of $3.2 million; Reese eighth, with $1.7 million; and Johnson 19th, at $1.1 million. Those numbers are likely low.
The Tigers have four of the six top female athletes as ranked by NIL proceeds.
The full article is posted on sportsillustrated.com.