04-04-2025
New law lets Colorado colleges cut checks to student athletes
Colorado universities can now put student athletes on the payroll for their name, image and likeness (NIL) rights — but what they're paid is off-limits to the public.
Why it matters: The move aligns Colorado with a federal settlement (House v. NCAA) that will soon force colleges to share sports revenue with athletes. But it also shields those contracts from public records requests, raising bipartisan alarms about transparency.
Catch up quick: The NCAA and its five power conferences voted last spring to let schools directly pay athletes — a seismic shift for a league that has long sought to maintain the amateur nature of college sports, Axios' Sareen Habeshian writes.
Driving the news: Last week, Gov. Jared Polis signed Colorado's implementation bill that allows schools to pay athletes directly from ticket sales, broadcast deals and merchandise revenue.
But Polis also raised concerns about a carveout that keeps those athlete contracts exempt from the Colorado Open Records Act (CORA).
State of play: Supporters of the exemption, including CU Boulder — which raked in a record $140 million in athletics revenue last year — argue that publishing specific payouts could endanger athletes. They cite concerns about harassment fueled by online trolling and the rise of sports gambling.
They also say Colorado schools could lose their recruiting edge, since private universities and many other states aren't subject to public disclosure laws.
What they're saying: "They're not being paid with public money," said bill sponsor Sen. Judy Amabile (D-Boulder), per the Denver Post. "They're students, and students have protections, and we wanted to preserve that."
The other side: Opponents, including open government advocates, say hiding individual payments makes it impossible to detect discrimination or favoritism.
