Utah House panel advances bill for colleges to directly pay athletes

SALT LAKE CITY — A Utah House committee advanced legislation Tuesday allowing universities in the state to directly pay college athletes, though one lawmaker raised questions about how Title IX applies to possible revenue sharing.

Also, a new version of HB449 discarded a provision directing that compensation from schools to athletes for the use of the name, image and likeness be subject to Utah's open records law. A state law passed last year made NIL contracts between athletes and a third party that are submitted to a school for review private records.

The House Education Committee passed the legislation 6-2 with little discussion and no debate in a hearing that lasted less than 10 minutes. It now moves to the full House for consideration.

Bill sponsor Rep. Jordan Teuscher, R-South Jordan, said the proposal is intended to keep Utah universities competitive with schools across the country and ensure they don't fall behind because the state's laws are not up to date.

"If we really want our institutions to be able to compete, this is what we need to do," he said.

Utah is not alone in passing or considering laws to keep up with the changing landscape in college sports. Some of the legislation has come in response to the pending final approval in the House v. NCAA case.

If the settlement goes through this spring, universities could earmark as much as $20.5 million for revenue sharing with athletes starting in July. Most Power Four schools are expected to spend $15 to $17 million on their football rosters.

Teuscher told the committee Utah needs to have the law in place whether the settlement is approved or not.

Would Title IX apply revenue sharing?

Rep. Karen Peterson, R-Clinton, said she doesn't understand how direct payments would comport with Title IX, the law that requires schools to provide equal athletic opportunity, regardless of sex.

"Now that we're talking about direct payments from a university, I guess I don't have my head wrapped around how that works with Title IX in ensuring there's equitable opportunities for student-athletes," she said.

Jason Greco, University of Utah senior associate athletics director for compliance, noted the Trump administration revoked Department of Education guidance under the Biden administration that direct NIL payments must be proportionate between male and female college athletes.

"At this point in time, there isn't a true interpretation as to how that is at a federal level," he told the committee.

Football and men's basketball typically generate the highest revenue at most schools around the country.

Greco said the University of Utah and the other state schools support the bill and that it aligns with the proposed House settlement.

Peterson voted against the bill, as did Rep. Neil Walter, R-St. George, saying NIL is a fast-moving space and that he isn't prepared to move to direct compensation.

What else does proposed NIL do?

In addition to paving the way for direct payments, HB449 makes clear that college athletes are not university employees. It also says schools may not use legislatively approved funds to pay athletes.

Though the bill now would not make those payments subject to the state's Government Records Access and Management Act, it calls for an audit every five years starting in 2028 of universities' spending on NIL compensation.

In an earlier interview, Teuscher told the Deseret News that direct payments would be treated the same as other university disbursements that are a matter of public record. He said Tuesday the universities believe the payments would be protected under the federal Family Education Rights and Privacy Act, or FERPA.

In 2023, Utah universities argued that NIL contracts are "education records" under FERPA in a case involving the Deseret News' attempt to obtain athletes' NIL agreements submitted to their schools. FERPA broadly defines education records as "records directly related to a student" and "maintained by an education agency."

The State Records Committee, which decides disputes over whether government records are public or private, rejected that argument and ordered the release of the contracts. The schools appealed the ruling in state court, where a judge ultimately decided NIL contracts are private records after the Legislature changed the law to shield them from public view.

The Deseret News sought the NIL agreements largely as a check against undue influence and in protection of Title IX and women's sports.

Are Utah schools following current NIL law?

Teuscher's bill also strikes a provision in the law the Legislature passed last year requiring athletes to submit all NIL agreements over $600 to the school. The school then must provide the athlete written acknowledgment regarding whether the contract conflicts with university policies or provisions of the proposed law. He said the state will now leave that up to NCAA rules.

The Deseret News attempted last year to ascertain under GRAMA how the University of Utah and Utah State University were complying with that aspect of the law. The newspaper asked for only the number of NIL contracts submitted in football, gymnastics and men's and women's basketball in the first six months since the law took effect.

The University of Utah declined to provide any information, saying the request appears to seek "information rather than records." The university responded that it is "not required to create a record or to compile, format, manipulate, package, summarize or tailor information in order to fulfill a GRAMA request."

Utah State University has had 10 disclosures — two in football, five in men's basketball, one in women's basketball and two in gymnastics.

The scant information makes it difficult, if not impossible, to know whether schools are complying with the law. It suggests that, at least at Utah State, there are few athletes with NIL agreements that exceed $600 or possibly that contracts are not being submitted at all.

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