South Carolina’s college sports programs are one step closer to being able to shield the money they’re paying student athletes from public scrutiny after the S.C. Senate Judiciary Committee voted to send a bill to the floor that exempts those payments from the state’s Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).
Supporters say the bill, which passed the S.C. House 111-2 last month, is necessary to protect the state’s major sports programs — particularly USC and Clemson football — from disclosures that would allow other teams around the country to outbid them for their own players.
Under current law, so-called Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) endorsement contracts with private sponsors are shielded from FOIA. But after a 2025 federal court settlement allowed schools to pay athletes out of other sports revenues — primarily TV rights and ticket sales — state universities asked lawmakers to add a provision exempting those dollars from FOIA as well.
The issue came to a head late last year, when Mount Pleasant businessman Frank Heindel sued in Columbia Circuit Court after being denied the payment information under FOIA. S.C. Circuit Court Judge Daniel Coble has suspended the case for six months as lawmakers consider their options.
While several senators, including committee Chairman Greg Hembree, R-Horry, said they were uncomfortable with the exception, most wound up supporting it on the grounds that no other state in the country currently requires disclosure of the payments.
“The world has changed,” Hembree told his colleagues. “And we might not like it, but we have to accept the reality of it, protect those athletes, protect their privacy, and evolve with the rest of the country on this.”
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