New law lets Colorado colleges cut checks to student athletes

Catch up quick: The NCAA and its five power conferences voted last spring to let schools directly pay athletes — a seismic shift for a league that has long sought to maintain the amateur nature of college sports, Axios' Sareen Habeshian writes.

Driving the news: Last week, Gov. Jared Polis signed Colorado's implementation bill that allows schools to pay athletes directly from ticket sales, broadcast deals and merchandise revenue.

• But Polis also raised concerns about a carveout that keeps those athlete contracts exempt from the Colorado Open Records Act (CORA).

State of play: Supporters of the exemption, including CU Boulder — which raked in a record $140 million in athletics revenue last year — argue that publishing specific payouts could endanger athletes. They cite concerns about harassment fueled by online trolling and the rise of sports gambling.

• They also say Colorado schools could lose their recruiting edge, since private universities and many other states aren't subject to public disclosure laws.

What they're saying: "They're not being paid with public money," said bill sponsor Sen. Judy Amabile (D-Boulder), per the Denver Post. "They're students, and students have protections, and we wanted to preserve that."

The other side: Opponents, including open government advocates, say hiding individual payments makes it impossible to detect discrimination or favoritism.

What's next: Schools like CU Boulder have agreed to publish aggregate NIL payment data by sport — not by player, CPR reports.

Yes, but: Critics, including the Colorado Freedom of Information Coalition, say the compromise still leaves the public in the dark.