Livvy Dunne, Angel Reese Land Another ‘Sports Illustrated’ Issue

LSU athletes have taken over the cover of Sports Illustrated.

SI’s latest issue features a cover story about the Louisiana State University's women’s athletics program and how its participants are making bank with their NIL. The cover showcases college sports phenoms Livvy Dunne and Angel Reese, two of the top NIL earners in the country, in their second appearance in the magazine.

Dunne, who ranks third on the list behind Bronny James and Shedeur Sanders, is a rising gymnastics star who has nearly 8 million TikTok followers. Reese, number eight, is an icon of LSU’s women’s basketball team who gained prominence earlier this year after she won the team its first national title. Her on-campus celebrity status necessitates she take online classes. Both women appeared in this year's Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue.

Led by Olivia Dunne and Angel Reese, LSU is setting the standard for athletes in women’s sports capitalizing on NIL deals.@stephapstein on the women’s program ruling the new college sports economy, in SI’s ‘The Money Issue’ https://t.co/1DCI7PH5Yf pic.twitter.com/IiJfpxGqGa

— Sports Illustrated (@SInow) September 13, 2023

Dunne and Reese are working feverishly to capitalize on their popularity, as it’s likely their NIL will never be as valuable as it is now. “Everybody knows the WNBA doesn’t make that much money, so I just want to be able to grow my brand as much as I can in college before I go to the WNBA,” Reese told SI. In the meantime, she’s led several multi-million dollar renovations to the women’s basketball offices and locker rooms.

Dunne has used her fame to create the Livvy Fund, which operates within LSU’s network to connect other women athletes at the school with brands. She hopes her legacy will be the financial security it creates for future female athletes. “There’s not many [lucrative] professional leagues for women’s sports after college,” Dunne told SI. “So it’s really important that women can capitalize on it now while they’re in college.”