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Without nationwide rules, South Carolina lawmakers move to keep college athlete payments secret

On Tuesday, the South Carolina Senate approved a bill to keep NIL payment amounts secret, shepherded by Republican Sen. Tom Young.
After the lawsuit, lawmakers accelerated consideration of NIL secrecy as open-government advocate Frank Heindel sued the University of South Carolina seeking NIL payment details, and a judge paused the suit to allow legislative action.
Athletic directors told senators the agreements contain `highly sensitive personal and financial information`, raising privacy concerns as the public could not see if football gets $18 million while women’s sports receive $500,000, and opponents warned secrecy hides more than $20 million per school without oversight.
Senators have called a hearing next week to ask athletic directors whether state money goes into athletic programs before a final vote that could send the bill to the South Carolina governor.
About half of U.S. states have considered or passed NIL rules since the start of 2025, with Arkansas, Utah, Colorado and Kentucky shielding NIL deals from public records, supporters said this prevents higher bids luring away rosters.

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South Carolina lawmakers move to keep college athlete payments secret

One by one, South Carolina senators stood up at the Statehouse this week, saying they didn't want to wade into the rules about paying college athletes, but they

11 hours ago

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The Post and Courier

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SC colleges are paying athletes. The Statehouse wants to know if NIL deals include public money.

A bill meant to shield universities’ revenue-sharing contracts with athletes from open records laws has hit a snag, because S.C. lawmakers want to know if public money was funding those deals.

15 hours ago·Charleston, United States

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WCBD

+15 Reposted by 15 other sources

Center

Without nationwide rules, South Carolina lawmakers move to keep college athlete payments secret

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — One by one, South Carolina senators stood up at the Statehouse this week, saying they didn't want to wade into the rules about paying college athletes, but they couldn't bear to see their Gamecocks or Tigers left behind on the field or the court. South Carolina is poised to join at [...]

16 hours ago·Charleston, United States

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