Legislation that would keep private the income college athletes receive in a revenue sharing agreement with a public university is heading to the House floor. A federal settlement involving the NCAA gave universities the ability to pay their athletes directly starting with this athletic year. Lafayette Representative Tehmi Chassion is author of the legislation — his daughter is a former college athlete.
“It shouldn’t be public information based upon the possibility of her being targeted, accosted, sought after, it’s just a safety precaution,” Chassion said.
The Public Affairs Research Council opposes the bill because it says the revenue-sharing agreements use public money, and citizens have a right to see how public money is spent. No one voted against the legislation when it was debated in House Education, but Houma Representative Beryl Amedee has a concern.
“This is really broad and I’m concerned that we are expanding confidentiality so much that we are losing necessary transparency,” Amedee said.
Three reporters, including Tiger Rag Executive Editor Todd Horne, recently filed a lawsuit against LSU arguing the revenue sharing agreements should be made public. Louisiana Radio Network and Tiger Rag are owned by the same company, Kingfish Communications.
LSU says releasing the information puts the athletic department at a competitive disadvantage and infringes on the privacy of student athletes.
Chaisson, whose daughter was a walk-on on the UConn women’s basketball team during the 2020-21 season, says for safety reasons, what a student makes from the university should not be made public.
“So my daughter being a college athlete, I don’t want anyone knowing what my daughter made in terms of revenue-sharing, I don’t want anyone targeting my daughter,” Chaisson said.
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