- Livvy Dunne and The Livvy Fund have teamed with JUNKLESS Foods on a nationwide NIL contest to name the brand's first college athlete ambassador.
- The grand prize includes $4,500 cash, a semester's supply of JUNKLESS for the winner and her team, the official "JUNKLESS Athlete" title, and monthly social features from late September through December.
- Entry is open to women rostered on a U.S. college team for 2026–2027; unlimited video entries close September 15, and Dunne personally selects the winner from the ten most-viewed submissions.
- Nine runners-up each receive $1,000 and product, with the overall winner announced in late September 2026.
Livvy Dunne is putting her NIL experience to work for the next generation of college athletes. On July 15, JUNKLESS Foods announced the JUNKLESS Athlete Collective, a nationwide contest that will crown the snack brand’s first-ever college athlete ambassador, with Dunne and her nonprofit, The Livvy Fund, choosing the winner.
Any woman rostered on a U.S. college team for the 2026–2027 season can enter by posting unlimited Instagram videos featuring JUNKLESS Protein or Granola Bars through September 15.
The ten most-viewed entries move to judging, where Dunne will pick a winner based on creativity, originality, and brand engagement.
The champion earns $4,500 in cash, a semester’s supply of product for her whole team, the JUNKLESS Athlete title, and monthly social features running through December. Nine runners-up will each take home $1,000 and product.
The contest lands during a busy stretch for women’s college NIL. Just weeks earlier, Chloe Kitts and Joyce Edwards signed onto Nike’s Blue Ribbon Elite NIL program, joining three South Carolina football players.
Dunne has kept a full slate: in February, she joined Tom Brady’s NOBULL as an athlete, investor, and partner. In April, Accelerator Active Energy, a brand she’s been tied to as an investor and ambassador since 2023, tapped her to front its rebrand campaign, “This Can. So Can You.”
For JUNKLESS, tying its 2025 protein bar launch to a recognizable NIL name gives the brand direct access to the college athlete audience it’s chasing.
Takeaways
This isn’t a standard endorsement check; it’s Dunne handing her own NIL playbook to a total stranger. She’s spent years opening doors for female athletes through The Livvy Fund, and this contest turns that mission into a public, searchable competition instead of a quiet, behind-the-scenes assist.
For JUNKLESS, pairing a low-cost, high-engagement contest format with a recognizable NIL name is a smart way to scout new talent while pushing its newer protein bar line in front of the exact audience it wants buying it.
Can an Instagram view-count contest actually surface an athlete capable of carrying a national ad campaign? Will other snack or beverage brands copy this “athlete picks an athlete” contest format? Does having Dunne personally choose the winner add real credibility, or is it mostly a marketing hook?
