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Today’s Case

Utah state records panel says in-state universities must disclose NIL contracts

A government body — perhaps for the first time — decided NIL contracts that college athletes submit to universities are not protected records under a federal education law, as the Utah State Records Committee further determined in a hearing last week that players give up an expectation of privacy when they sign NIL deals.

The committee will issue an order this week requiring the schools to disclose the contracts, including an athlete’s name as well as the business providing compensation. Universities are allowed to redact personal information such as an athlete’s residence, phone number, email address and personal finances. It’s unclear whether personal finances includes the dollar value of the contract.

Attorneys for the universities argued that GRAMA (Government Records Access and Management Act) did not apply because NIL contracts are “education records” under the federal Family Education Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) and they thus are prohibited from disclosing them without the student’s consent. FERPA broadly defines education records as “records directly related to a student” and “maintained by an education agency.”

The Verdict

• Setting a bad precedent

  • Student-athletes at public universities in Utah giving up their right to privacy by entering into NIL deals with a third party is unfair.

    • Instead, state laws should be amended to protect athletes, not harm them.

  • Additionally, releasing contract details would reveal private financial information and potentially be an unwarranted invasion of privacy.

• Does the public REALLY need to know how much money athletes are making on NIL deals?

  • While it would be nice to see dollar amounts tied to deals, is it really necessary for this to be public info?

  • While I will say some transparency would be nice, perhaps keeping the deal disclosures to athlete, school, brand, and nature of deal should suffice.

• Determining a pay scale

  • One positive I see from this is if dollar amounts are disclosed, athletes from other Utah public colleges can use this info as leverage when negotiating their own NIL deals.

    • For example, if a volleyball player discloses a $500 deal with a skincare company, a volleyball player from another Utah college (or even their teammate) can use this as a starting point when working with brands on compensation - especially if this athlete has a similar or higher social media following to the original athlete.

Student-athletes: What’s stopping you from posting content?

I provide two thoughts - and two solutions. Check out this video for more!

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