How NIL has transformed gymnastics for Olympians, NCAA and beyond

[rlayt]

I think I just saw Olivia Dunne in a Vuori TV commercial during Figure Skating coverage. She didn’t look as much like her photos as I thought she would. Tv and print really are totally different.

 

[arabiandoublefront]

The whole concept of branding reminds me of packaging in figure skating, and I hate it.

 

[choclatechip45]

Yup. That’s her. I saw it last night.

 

[JDB]

One concern I have with branding is how poor protections for minors’ earnings are outside of California. Most NCAA gymnasts are legal adults but we may see more minors doing commercial work from now on.

 

[Hatsumomo]

IIRC, the only other state that has some version of the Coogan Law is Pennsylvania and that was due to the Jon + Kate Plus 8 reality show.

 

[JaJa]

Actually a bunch of states have enacted some version of the Coogan Law. NY for one.

 

[Hatsumomo]

Really? Good. I wonder if Georgia is one, given that so much is now filmed there (e.g., Stranger Things).

 

[flappergirl]

I remember Vanessa Atler saying that she had to go pro because she needed money to train

 

[blake]

Not a good look

LSU issues statement after gymnastics star Olivia Dunne promoted AI homework tool on TikTok

Dunne, who has more than 7.2 million followers on TikTok, was promoting an AI tool that could help students with homework.

sports.yahoo.com

 

[Sparklesmom]

its a very bad look. She made it look worse in the comments where some follower asked her if she was smart and she responded “with this I am” - indicating she uses this product for her school work. So she essentially stated on the internet she is a cheater. Super super stupid move.

 

[blake]

I’m more surprised there was no one in her camp advising her against accepting the endorsement than her lack of academic integrity, especially considering how much media coverage and scrutiny chatGPT has gotten in the last few months.

It’s also concerning that the university didn’t seem to know about this until after the fact when they gave a statement. I assume a well-funded school like LSU would have a department vetting their athletes endorsements. I’d be less shocked if this happened at a non-power 5 school.

 

[irichluck21]

I wonder if LSU would be willing to let Dunne go after this season. She spent most of it recovering from injury and she has really pushed the LSU athletic department to the limits, with this situation, her inappropriate fans, and her basic disregard on social media that she is a student athlete and is ultimately representing LSU.

The press hasn’t been positive about Dunne this season.

 

[MaryClare]

Yes and presumably the additional security is coming out of the program’s budget

 

[ArnoldRimmer]

I wonder if going forward, it might become common for athletes and institutions to have some kind of process whereby athletes can get the institutions view on a particular endorsement. Seems like it would be in everyone’s interests since it’s of mutual benefit for an athlete not to take an endorsement that could make them more trouble than they’re worth to the college.

 

[cuuf]

All major P5 schools have NIL departments that vet contracts for athletes. Athletes only need approval from institutions if they are using trademark material, like logos as part of the promotion.

 

[Kittentoes]

I guess this is just how we live now.[]

 

[blake]

She and Schoennherr left the same statement under the video: “Disclaimer: every school is different, but UF encourages the ethical use of artificial intelligence such as for studying”. They clearly know it’s shady, but money’s money I guess…

TBH, LSU’s statement is pretty tame compared to the wrath of god professors would invoke when warning us about the consequences of plagiarism and cheating.

 

[RedBirdie]

I worked under a prof who came from teaching at anIvy, and he told me, with remarkable glee, how much he enjoyed being able to flunk students who he caught plagiarizing or cheating because at his Ivy “you could kill someone and they wouldn’t let you fail. Worse we could give was a D.”

 

[irichluck21]

I worked under a prof who came from teaching at anIvy, and he told me, with remarkable glee, how much he enjoyed being able to flunk students who he caught plagiarizing or cheating because at his Ivy “you could kill someone and they wouldn’t let you fail. Worse we could give was a D.”

I have known a few professors to overlook plagiarisms and cheating because they feared retaliation in the form of a negative student evaluation.

Back in my undergrad I signed up for a specific professor because “it was impossible to get an A in her course.” I wanted that professor because I knew I would get the most out of the class and learn the most and have to work my hardest. I ended up with that “impossible A”, but 23 years later I still remember EVERYTHING that was taught in that class. Kept my notes and texts and still refer to them today. I ended up signing up for her courses 2 more times. She ended up getting let go a few years after I graduated due to “negative student evaluations”.

With budget cuts being made to academics, professors don’t want to loose their positions, so I can some of them not wanting to get retaliated against for having high expectations/standards/ not allowing cheating or plagiarism.

 

[Laura722]