Jerome Miron-Imagn Images
Popular LSU gymnast Olivia Dunne has submitted a formal objection to the proposed $2.8 billion House v. NCAA settlement, claiming it shortchanges her. On Monday, Dunne presented her objections to Northern District of California Judge Claudia Wilken during a hearing on final approval of the settlement.
According to Forbes, as much as 90% of the $2.8 billion, or whatever the final number ends up being, will be allocated to football and men’s basketball based on the revenue generated by the respective sports.
Olivia Dunne has been among the highest-earning athletes in college sports when it comes to NIL. Her current endorsements are valued at $4.1 million , putting behind her behind only Arch Manning, Carson Beck, and Cooper Flagg.
“This settlement uses old logic to calculate modern value,” Dunne said during the hearing. “It takes a narrow snapshot of a still maturing market and freezes it, ignoring the trajectory we were on.”
Dunne also expressed how had she been allowed to make NIL income during the four years before the Name, Image, and Likeness interim rules went into effect she would have earned far more than the House v. NCAA settlement is granting her.
“Brands were interested, followers were engaged, demand was real,” Dunne explained. “Had NIL rules not restricted me, my value would’ve started higher, scaled faster and grown even more. Including during high school, when I was already amassing a large following but couldn’t earn money without compromising my NCAA eligibility. That lost momentum matters, and it’s been ignored.”
Dunne, who described herself as “a Division I athlete, a businesswoman, and highest-earning female athlete since the NIL rules changed,” told the judge, “This settlement doesn’t come close to recognizing the value I lost.”
The gymnast added, “This entire process defines athlete value based on the sport you played in and how much revenue your team brought in, but NIL is about more than wins and revenue.”
Despite her complaints, Judge Wilken is unlikely to alter how the settlement money is divvied up. She stated during Monday’s hearing that she believes the formula for calculating lost NIL opportunities “seems reasonable” and that the case is not a Title IX issue.
Olivia Dunne is one of just 73 objectors out of 390,000, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. 343 athletes, including Villanova March Madness hero Kris Jenkins, who filed his own lawsuit this past weekend, have opted out of the settlement.