By Alayna Alvarez | Axios Denver
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.