BATON ROUGE – The Louisiana House voted 91-4 this week to create new public records exemptions allowing universities to conceal information about how college athletics programs spend public dollars on revenue sharing with athletes.

Existing state law shields contract documents from being publicly disclosed for college athletes who earn money for their

“Name, Image and Likeness,” or NIL, through third-party deals.

House Bill 608 by Rep. Tehmi Chassion, D-Lafayette, would extend public records exceptions to shield information on how money is distributed to athletes in a school’s “revenue-sharing” program. Those funds are paid to athletes and athletic programs under terms of a $2.8 billion antitrust settlement agreed to in 2025 by the NCAA.

Under the terms of the settlement, each Division 1 university, such as LSU, can share $20.5 million annually with its athletes and determine how those funds are distributed. Those funds will increase by 4% in each of the next two years.

NCAA revenue-sharing allows Division 1 colleges and universities to share revenue the athletic department makes through TV deals, ticket sales or sponsorships with student-athletes, bringing the compensation of collegiate athletes closer to a professional model.

“House Bill 608 seeks to be a little bit more specific in the new world of revenue sharing as to what an individual school can allocate to an individual sport and an individual athlete,” Chassion said.

The four “no” votes in Wednesday’s vote came from Democratic Reps. Robby Carter of Greensburg, Wilford Carter Sr. of Lake Charles, Mandie Landry of New Orleans and Ed Larvadain III of Alexandria.

Chaisson also said the new law may protect journalists who are criticized by rabid fans for disclosing financial information.

“Recently, there’s been some members of the news media who just happened to want information – and I happen to want to keep it private – that some members of our media have received threats,” Chassion said. “The world is a whole lot nicer place when everyone chooses to be nice, and they don’t deserve that just because they happen to be on the other side of the coin."

“We’re all on the same team,” Chassion added. “So, humbly I’m just asking members and people in the public who simply live and die with a sport, whether it’s football or basketball, to have a little more common sense, because the world is better when folks are nice to each other, and they don’t deserve that.”

Chassion’s bill will go to the Senate for further consideration.

Revenue sharing differs from NIL opportunities in the source of the funds and which players can receive money. NIL earnings come directly from third-party companies through sponsorships, endorsements or social media campaigns rather than directly from a university and extend to all divisions.

Schools can share up to 22% of the average revenue among schools in the Power 5 conferences – SEC, Big Ten, Big 12, ACC and Pac-12.