Nevada committee hears bill to let universities oversee NIL and revenue sharing for student athletes

Senator Roberta Lang introduced Senate Bill 293 to the Nevada Senate Committee on Education, saying the bill would update state policy to allow public institutions of higher education to play a direct role in name, image and likeness (NIL) and revenue-sharing arrangements for student athletes.

The bill’s sponsors and university athletics leaders told the committee the change is intended to give Nevada institutions authority to provide guidance, contract oversight and privacy protections for student athletes while remaining permissive about how institutions use nonpublic philanthropic funds. "This bill will more importantly, permit institutions to broaden the scope of their involvement and guidance," said Eric Nepomuceno, senior deputy athletics director and chief operating officer, UNLV. He told the committee that institutional involvement would be aimed at "stronger protection and safeguards" for athletes.

The proposal comes as national policy is in flux. Several witnesses described the impending House v. NCAA settlement and other court rulings as likely to reshape NCAA rules and permit schools to pay athletes under a revenue-share model. "The settlement terms between the plaintiffs and the defense have been agreed to," said Stephanie Remp, athletic director at the University of Nevada, Reno, adding that a judge was scheduled to rule on the settlement on April 7. Remp outlined projected changes she says could include caps tied to Power Five revenue and required reporting of NIL deals.

Jeff Choate, head football coach at the University of Nevada, described the competitive pressure the changes create. "The new plus 1 is this name, image and likeness, which now is transitioning to rev share," Choate said, arguing Nevada institutions could be at a recruiting disadvantage without the ability to participate in revenue sharing. He offered a comparison: when he arrived, a Power Five program had an $18 million NIL "salary cap" while Nevada had roughly $125,000 available through a third-party collective.

University witnesses and NSHE counsel said the bill would not require using state general funds to pay athletes and that donor and foundation accounts would hold funds designated for NIL or revenue sharing. "If they're donating to name, image, and likeness or revenue sharing, it would go in that foundation account," said Remp, adding the foundation would not transfer those funds elsewhere.

NSHE’s senior associate general counsel, Linda King, described an amendment proposed by the System that would exempt institution-held NIL contracts from public records requests while preserving individual athletes’ tax-reporting obligations. "The amendment is intended to exempt these NIL contracts that are in the custody and control of the institutions from the Public Records Act," King said, adding that the amendment was drafted in collaboration with UNR and UNLV.

Committee members asked about tax treatment, transparency and safeguards. Members were told student athletes remain responsible for reporting taxable income from NIL, and institutions would be required to disclose aggregated salary-cap numbers to an external overseer; Deloitte was cited as the firm the NCAA selected to manage reporting. "I don't think we have clarity on individual student's name and how much," Remp said, but added that aggregated reporting and outside monitoring were expected.

Supporters who testified included the Nevada System of Higher Education and the Clark County Professional Firefighters, which said a clear, institution-involved system would protect athletes and help universities remain competitive. No opposition testimony was recorded.

The committee closed the SB293 hearing and moved on to the next agenda item without a vote recorded on the bill.

Ending: The bill remains a matter for committee consideration. Sponsors said they will work with stakeholders on amendments (including the NSHE records exemption) and that institutions will return with implementation details such as governance, reporting and counsel to advise student athletes if the committee requests them.