Three-time American Olympic gold-winning gymnast Gabby Douglas had an incredibly tough road to the 2012 London Olympic Games. She lived in a van her first year before her family was taken in by relatives. Her father soon after abandoned them, leaving her mom to support four young children. Her mom filed bankruptcy and Gabby was sent from Virginia to Iowa at 14 to hone her skills more cheaply without her favorite (and current) coach, Liang Chow.
She almost quit.
Instead, Douglas stuck it out, helping Team USA to a London gold medal and winning one herself in the all-around. She also won team gold in 2016 in Rio de Janeiro.
Unlike today’s U.S. athletes, Douglas and company could not earn Name, Image, and Likeness deals, which became legal in 2021.
It has made a world of difference.
The Rise of NIL and Its Impact on U.S. Olympic Athletes
Team USA athletes can now monetize their fame and dreams through endorsements, sponsorships and other marketing deals. But for sports that are considered minor ones by most Americans – very much including Olympic disciplines – there is lots of work to do on the NIL end.
U.S. Olympic teams are facing urgent financial challenges as NIL monies mostly churn toward revenue-making sports like NCAA football and men’s basketball. That has come with a cost to minor sports which have largely been overlooked.
At the beginning of the NIL shift, football and basketball players received 67 percent of all NIL funds. This year, 17 of the highest paid NIL collegiate student-athletes are football players. Two are men’s basketball players. One, believe it or not, is LSU gymnast Livvy Dunne with an NIL valuation of over $4 million.
Gymnasts can earn NIL money as amateurs and professionals. And fans can chip in via donation platforms like RallyFuel, allowing direct support for athletes pursuing elite competition.
Gymnastics, ice dancing, figure skating and diving fall under the category of artistic sports which generally include “sports dependent primarily upon subjective evaluation.” In other words, these sports are judged on aesthetics.
Dunne is the highest-earning female in the NIL space. That’s largely because she has caught on like crazy on TikTok and Instagram to the tune of a combined 13 million followers. But there’s a catch. A long-haired, attractive blonde, Dunne capitalizes on her looks and outgoing personality and is not an Olympic hopeful.
Former Auburn gymnast Suni Lee is a totally different deal.
Named Sports Illustrated’s Female Athlete of the Year in 2021 after winning all-around gold in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, her NIL partnerships have included HOKA, Amazon, Gatorade, Target, Invisalign and CLIF Bar. Lee earned two bronze medals in the 2024 Paris Olympics and has said she is taking her future in the sport day by day.
Learn More About the NIL Landscape
Name, Image, and Likeness plays an increasing role in college sports, and understanding how it works often requires more than individual articles or news updates.
RallyFuel is a platform focused on NIL-related topics across college athletics. It brings together information about athletes, NIL activity, and the broader structure behind modern college sports, helping readers explore the topic in more depth.
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