NIL Deals for College Athletes Should Be Transparent

Olivia Dunne, social media superstar and Louisiana State University gymnast, recently revealed that she's been paid over $500,000 for a single social media post. It's a breathtaking sum for a college athlete and one that's known to the public only because Dunne chose to share it. Under Louisiana law, LSU and other public institutions are prohibited from releasing student name, image and likeness deals to the public or media.

It's a growing movement. In June, Texas — a crucial college sports hub — became the sixth state to enact similar prohibitions on the public's right to know. An even greater number of colleges and universities — as many as 40% — cite federal laws designed to protect student privacy to shield NIL deals from public scrutiny. Student privacy is an important goal. But in the world of college sports and money, where schools sometimes facilitate multimillion-dollar deals between corporations and athletes, there should be no such thing. The public has a right to know.

For one thing, a lack of transparency makes it difficult, if not impossible, for colleges and state legislatures to evaluate why top athletes are attracted to a competitor's school. Is it due to the athletic and academic programs? Or because financial promises are made? These questions matter to institutions that spend millions on coaches, sometimes making a football coach the highest-paid government employee in a state. Coaches and their (ideally) successful programs are often crucial marketing tools for state colleges. Ensuring they both have integrity is part of the branding.