Student-athletes at Colorado colleges can now be paid directly by their schools under a bill signed by Gov. Jared Polis, though the law did not come without some heartburn about public transparency.
Polis signed House Bill 1041 into law Friday to bring Colorado in line with recent court rulings that allow schools to pay their student-athletes directly. But the law also carves out the athletes’ contracts as exempt from the state open records law.
In a signing statement, Polis said he supported the bill’s aims and keeping Colorado collegiate athletics competitive — but he had “concerns” about the exception.
“While the bill’s exception is narrowly tailored, it follows an unfortunate trend of legislative proposals that ultimately impede access to official records that are arguably within the public’s interest to view,” Polis wrote. “These exceptions move transparency in the wrong direction and any other proposals that further prevent or delay public access to information will be carefully reviewed.”
The bill passed the House and Senate overwhelmingly. Sponsor Sen. Judy Amabile, a Boulder Democrat, said she appreciated the governor’s concerns about the bill, but “the fact is that these are not employees.”
“They’re not being paid with public money,” Amabile said. “They’re students, and students have protections, and we wanted to preserve that.”
The Colorado Freedom of Information Coalition opposed the bill over the records exemption, arguing in part that transparency for contracts would help ensure fair earning opportunities for the student-athletes.
The athletes’ pay would come from auxiliary funds directly tied to athletics, such as ticket sales, merchandise and TV deals — not tax dollars. Big-name college athletics, such as the University of Colorado Buffaloes, can generate tens of millions of dollars.
The Buffs generated more than $140 million — a record — last year, according to a financial report published in January.
The law came in response to the rapidly shifting landscape of college athletics. The NCAA only allowed student-athletes to profit off their name, image and likeness in 2021, even as they helped generate eye-popping revenue for amateur athletics. Schools like CU began using third-party organizations, including booster collectives, to pay athletes.
The new law was aimed at bringing Colorado law in line with another seismic shift in college athletics brought about by a settlement in a case called House v. NCAA. That class-action lawsuit resulted in a settlement that allowed schools to pay student-athletes directly as soon as July.
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