Livvy Dunne dishes on her social media strategy, how she handles rabid fans

LSU gymnast Livvy Dunne is everywhere at the moment. She’s amassed millions of social media followers, has her face plastered on a Times Square billboard and even joined SportsCenter for a few minutes on Thursday.

When appearing on ESPN, Dunne was asked about her recent social media posts showing her looking on at the billboard she’s featured in for Nautica. Of course, seeing yourself on Times Square is always neat:

“It was surreal. I mean, I’ve been on a billboard before in Times Square for NILSU and that was for a few hours, which was amazing,” Dunne said. “But now I’m the face of the brand Nautica and I’m on a huge billboard in New York right now, and I mean, it was just unreal to see that in person and I feel like my dreams are coming true before my eyes.”

Dunne’s profile has blown up over the last few years to get to the point of her being the face of a marketing campaign for a name brand clothing line. As part of her time on SportsCenter, she gave a little background on whether this rise was strategic or sort of happened out of nowhere.

“There’s definitely a strategy behind it,” she answered. “It was over quarantine when it really blew up for me. And from there, I had the help of my mom and my sister managing me and my time and just having the right people around me. It’s been one of the biggest blessings in my life.”

The popularity and all that comes with it has certainly been an unbelievable experience for Livvy Dunne. However, are there times she wishes her star didn’t shine so bright? ESPN showed one clip of some rowdy, mostly male fans at a gym meet last season and asked if that sort of rabid attention sometimes bothers her.

“I mean, yes and no,” she said, explaining that appreciates all the love, but also wants people to know that many of her fans aren’t like that.

“I’m so blessed to have these supporters in my life and this video, like, doesn’t really capture everyone that supports me,” Dunne added. “There’s really amazing girl fans also that support me and love me for who I am and my gymnastics. I love interacting with the people that support me and, yeah, it’s just been so cool to be able to meet fans after meets and get to know them.”

To think, just a few years ago, brand deals and billboards and social media marketing would have all been off the table thanks to the NCAA’s rules. But in today’s era, Livvy Dunne is an example of how to best capitalize on NIL, social media and the exposure of playing Division I sports.