Student-athletes at Colorado colleges and universities could soon be paid directly by their schools under a bill in the state legislature that would build on their ability to profit from their name, image and likeness.
The proposal, , reflects the seismic shifts running through college athletics since the NCAA’s authorization of name, image and likeness, or NIL, payments in 2021. That landmark decision, forced by a California law, allows college athletes to be paid after years of strict prohibitions on them profiting from their talents.
But it also initially restricted the source of compensation to outside entities instead of schools themselves — until the landscape in shifted again with another landmark decision last year.
That decision, which came through a settlement in the class-action lawsuit , set the stage for schools to be able to pay their student-athletes directly. Colorado lawmakers’ new bill builds off allowing NIL payments so that universities can comply with the new rules established by the settlement.
“Our universities cannot pay our athletes directly,” said Senate President James Coleman, a Denver Democrat and sponsor of the bill. “They get paid by businesses, and now thatap a disadvantage we have with universities around the country.”
Some states already allow universities to directly pay their athletes, while others are considering similar laws to allow the practice.
The potential of direct NIL payments could add a potent variable to the mix when athletes shop their talents to other schools through the transfer portal, in effect creating bidding wars between colleges.
House sponsor Rep. Lesley Smith, a Boulder Democrat, formerly served as a University of Colorado regent, which gave her a “front-seat view” of the rapidly changing landscape.
“Basically, we’re in a new era of intercollegiate athletics,” Smith said. “It’s a bit of the Wild West, with the rules shifting frequently.”
She sees the bill as a fairly straightforward response to the NCAA settlement and hopes to have the option of direct payments in place by the fall semester. In short, the bill would allow colleges to bypass third-party organizations, such as collections of boosters, to compensate the student-athletes.
CU started using NIL collectives 2022. In March, it merged two of the collectives — one focused on football, the other on all athletes — into one. The new 5430 Alliance was intended to support 350 student-athletes across 11 programs, according to a . The athletics department also helps athletes with other NIL opportunities.
The university has since as it prepares to pay athletes directly, in compliance with the House v. NCAA ruling.
Some of the highest-profile student-athletes can command NIL money in the millions of dollars. CU cornerback and receiver Travis Hunter, who won the Heisman Trophy last month, had NIL deals valued at $5.7 million, according to an analysis by NIL tracking firm .
Sen. Judy Amabile, a Boulder Democrat co-sponsoring the bill, said allowing colleges and universities to pay athletes directly can also help make sure some lesser-known athletes are taken care of.
“We’re profiting off of these young people, and they should then get to share in that profit,” Amabile said.
The bill would exempt any contracts signed by students from Colorado’s Open Records Act. Smith said that provision was included to be in line with , which protects students’ personal information. Athletes’ pay wouldn’t come from public money, but instead from auxiliary funds directly tied to athletics, such as ticket sales, merchandise and TV deals.
The bill is set to have its first hearing Wednesday in the House Education Committee.
