A Baton Rouge television station has filed the first lawsuit in Louisiana seeking access to Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) agreements submitted to a public university by intercollegiate athletes under a recently enacted state law. It is believed to be the first such lawsuit in the country.

Following the United States Supreme Court 9-0 ruling in NCAA v Allison—allowing student athletes to profit from their NIL, Louisiana enacted a law on June 7, 2021, mandating, among other things, that athletes disclose their NIL agreements to the university they attend for review and approval.

The new law did not state that the agreements become part of the student's education record or exclude them from the definition of public records. Nor did it create a new exception to Louisiana's public records law for NIL agreements.

LSU has adopted policies conditioning approval of the agreement on endorsement of favored products. Unfavored products include illegal drugs, alcohol, tobacco, and any form of sports betting. LSU's policies also restrict use of the university trademark, colors and uniforms without university approval.

WAFB, a Gray Media Group, Inc., affiliate, requested records in LSU's possession that identify the intercollegiate athletes, how much the athletes are being paid, and by whom. The station asserts the public's "great interest in the name, image and likeness contracts LSU student athletes submitted, and particularly which student athletes have been granted the ability to use LSU trademark and colors and what endorsements contracts the university has approved or disapproved."

LSU denied WAFB's request, arguing that the contracts "remain part of a student's record and . . . personal to the student athlete and, as such, . . . not a public record."

WAFB disputes the university's characterization of the requested student athlete contracts in a 13 page petition — captioned Gray Media Group, inc., d/b/a WAFB v Willian F. Tate IV in his capacity as Custodian of Records for Louisiana State University — filed on October 5 in the East Baton Rouge Parish.

On June 24, 2021, Governor Andy Beshear signed an executive order allowing Kentucky's college athletes to make money through the use of their name, image or likeness.

https://www.espn.com/college-sports/story/_/id/31702584/kentucky-allow-…

As of October 1, Congress has taken no action on an anticipated federal NIL law.

https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2021/10/01/congress-holds-hearing-c…