If you thought the revenue sharing era of college athletics — brought on by the approval of the House settlement — would differ from the NIL era that preceded it in terms of transparency regarding player compensation, you will be probably be disappointed. Thus far, all indications are that schools will be anything but transparent with the public in regards to what players are receiving on an individual basis through revenue sharing. In July, CBS Sports filed “more than a dozen freedom of information requests for the revenue-sharing contracts of high-profile college football players across the country” but just six schools responded to those requests, all denying them for various reasons.
If you thought the revenue sharing era of college athletics — brought on by the approval of the House settlement — would differ from the NIL era that preceded it in terms of transparency regarding player compensation, you will be probably be disappointed.
Thus far, all indications are that schools will be anything but transparent with the public in regards to what players are receiving on an individual basis through revenue sharing.
In July, CBS Sports filed “more than a dozen freedom of information requests for the revenue-sharing contracts of high-profile college football players across the country” but just six schools responded to those requests, all denying them for various reasons. The same thing happened to the The Post and Courier, which requested records from Clemson.
Although many different reasons were cited for those denials, FERPA (the federal Family Education Rights and Privacy Act) was frequently used.
Ultimately, CBS Sports’ Richard Johnson, John Talty and Brandon Marcello concluded that “for now, as payments to athletes increase, so will the secrecy around what they’re being paid.”
That secrecy, at least at a prominent SEC school, has now expanded to some of the student-athletes themselves. Lulu Kresin of the Greenville News, a paper based in South Carolina, reported Wednesday that South Carolina’s women’s basketball players have been required to sign non-disclosure agreements regarding the compensation they receive from revenue sharing, the point being to not share their compensation from the school with anyone, even with their own teammates.
In a podcast appearance with former First Lady Michelle Obama, head coach Dawn Staley said, “now whether they can stick with that or not, some of them get disgruntled and maybe transfer and just say what ‘I was making (amount)’ and it can stir up the pot, but I’m very honest,” Staley said. “I’ll tell them, there’s a reason why you get paid this and you get paid that. I’ll explain that to them.”
Staley noted that she is a fan of the recent and many changes in college athletics that have led to player’s being compensation, but still wants college athletes to be amateurs.
“I’m supportive of it, I really am,” Staley said. “I think it’s long overdue. ... We got to find a way to balance, to keep it an amateur sport while allowing young people to go out there and benefit from their name, image and likeness.”
It does appear, though, if South Carolina’s approach is any indication, that transparency regarding player compensation is becoming more and more limited in the revenue sharing era.
Category: General Sports
