The law
Connecticut's college NIL law is Conn. Gen. Stat. § 10a-56 (status: in force). Everything on this page is taken from the enacted text on the legislature's own site, linked under Sources, read on October 21, 2026.
What it says
| Question | What the statute says | Section or source |
|---|---|---|
| Who is covered | A "student athlete" is a student who attends or has agreed to attend a Connecticut institution of higher education and participates or has agreed to participate in an intercollegiate athletic program (recruits who have committed are covered since 2025-03-03). "Institution of higher education" includes public and independent colleges under § 10a-55 and licensed for-profit colleges | 10a-56(a)(1), (a)(8) |
| Disclosure to the school | Each school's policy must require the athlete to disclose and submit a copy of each endorsement contract, written employment agreement and representation agreement the athlete executes. The statute sets no deadline; the school's policy does | 10a-56(c)(1) |
| Banned categories | No state list. Each school's policy identifies "prohibited endorsements", meaning products, categories of companies, brands or types of contracts the school prohibits by policy | 10a-56(a)(10), (c)(4) |
| Conflicts with team contracts | School policy bars an athlete from an agreement that conflicts with a contract the school is party to, and the school discloses the conflicting provisions to the athlete or the athlete's attorney or agent. Policy also bars NIL work from interfering with official team activities or academic obligations. The statute does not require a school to let athletes use its marks, and a school may use athletes' NIL in official team activities | 10a-56(c)(2), (3); (d)(7), (8) |
| School and coach involvement | A school, or an entity acting on its behalf, may create, facilitate, negotiate, support, assist with or otherwise enable NIL opportunities for an athlete or a prospective athlete, and other pay related to the athlete's participation. Coaches are not named | 10a-56(h) |
| Direct pay from the school | An athlete may earn pay through an endorsement contract or a "revenue sharing agreement" (a share of the school's revenue as compensation) directly with the school or an entity acting for it, if the school adopts a policy allowing it. Nothing requires a school to pay. No school may use state appropriations for endorsement or revenue sharing pay | 10a-56(a)(11), (b)(2), (d)(1), (i) |
| Agents and attorneys | An athlete may hire an attorney or a "sports agent" (a duly licensed person acting under the federal Sports Agent Responsibility and Trust Act) through a written agreement, under school policy. Schools, the NCAA and conferences may not prevent representation. Connecticut repealed its Uniform Athlete Agents Act (§§ 20-559 to 20-559s) effective 2018-01-01, so there is no state registration | 10a-56(a)(5), (b)(1), (e)(4), (f)(1)(B) |
| High school and minors | Not addressed; the section covers intercollegiate athletes, including recruits who have agreed to attend | 10a-56(a)(1) |
| Financial literacy | Not addressed | None |
| Scholarship protection | No school may restrict or revoke an athlete's scholarship eligibility because of an endorsement contract, employment or representation that complies with subsection (b). A scholarship or other financial aid is not "compensation". A school or association may still act if the deal does not comply with subsection (b) | 10a-56(d)(3), (f)(1)(C), (g) |
| Confidentiality of contracts | At public colleges, records of an athlete's pay from an endorsement contract, employment or revenue sharing agreement are not subject to disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act unless the athlete consents in writing to each disclosure. Public schools that revenue-share report only the yearly total and the number of athletes paid to the legislature's higher education committee | 10a-56(f)(2); 10a-56b |
| NCAA and conference penalties | The NCAA and conferences may not, on the basis of permitted endorsement, employment, revenue sharing or representation, bar a school from competition, restrict an athlete's eligibility, stop the athlete earning or hiring representation, or act on a complaint, open an investigation or take adverse action against a school, an entity acting for it, an employee or an athlete for permitted activity, including direct pay | 10a-56(e)(1) to (5) |
| Remedies and enforcement | Not addressed. The section creates no private cause of action, damages remedy or enforcing agency | None |
| Employee status | Nothing in the section qualifies a student athlete as an employee of a school | 10a-56(d)(4) |
Connecticut's 2025 emergency amendment
P.A. 25-1 was HB 7066, a bill that also dealt with school personnel and immigration authorities, drones and nonprofit grants. It was passed under emergency certification (House 2025-02-24, Senate 2025-02-25) and signed by Governor Lamont on 2025-03-03, effective on passage. Section 12 rewrote § 10a-56 so schools could sign endorsement and revenue sharing agreements with athletes, covered recruits who have agreed to attend, removed the 2021 bar on pay as an inducement to enroll, and added the bar on NCAA and conference complaints, investigations and penalties. Section 13 created § 10a-56b, a yearly report by public schools that revenue-share to the legislature's Higher Education and Employment Advancement Committee, first due 2026-01-01. Governor Lamont's line-item veto of the act (sections 9 to 11) did not touch sections 12 and 13.
The committee's page lists one report under the heading "PA 25-1 Annual Report to the Higher Education Committee" (posted in a folder dated 2026-01-28). The report, dated January 2026 and made "pursuant to Section 13 of Public Act No. 25-1", states $11,601,494.15 in revenue used as compensation for student-athletes from 2025-07-01 to 2025-12-31, paid to 536 student-athletes. The report does not name the institution that filed it; it refers to "institutions like the University of Connecticut".
No state agent registration
Connecticut has no athlete agent registration law. It adopted the Uniform Athlete Agents Act in 2004 (P.A. 04-55, Conn. Gen. Stat. §§ 20-559 to 20-559s) and repealed it effective 2018-01-01 (P.A. 17-75, § 5). The NIL section instead refers to the federal Sports Agent Responsibility and Trust Act and requires a written agreement for any attorney or agent. With no state act there is no state registrar, fee, cancellation window or required notice to the athletic director; those come only from federal law, school policy and NCAA rules.
How it changed
| Act | What it did | Effective |
|---|---|---|
| P.A. 21-132 (HB 6402), § 14 | enacted § 10a-56: athletes may earn pay through endorsement contracts or unrelated employment and hire an attorney or sports agent, under school policies requiring disclosure and copies of contracts, conflict rules and prohibited endorsements; bars on NCAA, conference and school action; FOIA protection for compensation records; athletes could use NIL from 2021-09-01, or earlier if the school adopted its policy sooner | 2021-07-01 (approved 2021-06-30) |
| June Sp. Sess. P.A. 21-2 (SB 1202), § 146 | amended section 14 of P.A. 21-132 before it took effect: moved the start date and the policy deadline from 2021-09-01 to 2022-01-01 and added a bar on NIL pay as an inducement to attend or enroll | 2021-07-01 (approved 2021-06-23) |
| P.A. 22-11 (SB 20), § 1 | ended the flat bar on using institutional marks; schools now set policy on marks, and the statute does not require a school to allow their use; § 2 required UConn and the Board of Regents to report the fiscal impact by 2023-01-01 | 2022-07-01 (approved 2022-05-10) |
| P.A. 25-1 (HB 7066), §§ 12 and 13 | let athletes earn pay through endorsement contracts or revenue sharing agreements directly with their school or an entity acting for it, under school policy; covered recruits who have agreed to attend; barred NCAA and conference complaints, investigations and adverse action for permitted activity; removed the inducement bar; barred state appropriations for athlete pay; added revenue sharing to the FOIA protection; added § 10a-56b, a yearly report on revenue sharing by public schools | 2025-03-03 |
Federal law
As of 2026-10-21, S. 4668 (Protect College Sports Act) passed the Senate 77-22 on 2026-09-28 and has been held at the House desk since 2026-10-05, with no House action (congress.gov); it is not law. If enacted as passed, § 121(a)(2) covers state laws that govern, regulate or invalidate association, conference or school rules on NIL pay, transfers or eligibility; on its text that describes Connecticut's limits on the NCAA and conferences in Conn. Gen. Stat. § 10a-56(e)(1) to (5) and on schools in (f)(1). School endorsement and revenue sharing pay under § 10a-56(b)(2) lines up with S. 4668 § 101(c), subject to the revenue share cap in § 114, and the bar on state appropriations (subsection (i)) is a limit on Connecticut's own spending. § 121(b) keeps privacy and contract law unless it conflicts with § 121(a); whether the FOIA protection in § 10a-56(f)(2) is a "law that relates to privacy" is not settled by the text. Connecticut has no athlete agent registration law for § 121(b)(1)(A) to preserve, so S. 4668 § 102 (a 5% cap on agent fees for endorsement contracts, a bar on agency contracts past eligibility, and a private right of action under the federal Sports Agent Responsibility and Trust Act) would be the main agent rule. § 102 would also require an agent representing a student athlete in an endorsement contract to "register with a State" (new SPARTA § 9(a)); SPARTA § 9(b) counts registration with a professional league or players association or under a State's uniform agent act, and Connecticut has had no state registration since 2018. Alongside Connecticut's school-policy disclosure, S. 4668 § 101(b) would require athletes at schools whose primary membership is in Division I (§ 101(b)(5)) to report to the school and the association or its designated entity the terms of each NIL agreement over $600 (counting payments from one source over 12 months) within 5 days of signing, and other NIL pay over $600 within 30 days of receipt (§ 101(b)(1)); a school could not release information identifying the athlete from those reports without written consent (§ 101(b)(4)). § 122 is neutral on employee status (§ 10a-56(d)(4)).
What sits on top of it
- Division I reporting. Third-party deals of $600 or more go to NIL Go within five business days, whatever the state's own rule (NIL Go, reporting a deal, level by level).
- Your school. A school can set a stricter policy than the statute, and most set the disclosure process.
- Agents. Connecticut's athlete-agent rules are on the state-by-state registration table.
- High school. High school NIL in Connecticut is set by the state's athletic association, not this statute.
- Taxes. NIL taxes in plain words.
How Leave fits
In Leave, every deal thread carries a rules summary for the athlete's state and level, and keeps the contract, its dates and the disclosure deadline that applies. It is a summary, not a ruling; the school and the statute decide. Leave is software, not an agent, and takes 0% of any deal. You decide, you send.
Questions about college NIL law in Connecticut
What is Connecticut's NIL law in 2026?
Conn. Gen. Stat. § 10a-56, enacted by P.A. 21-132 (effective 2021-07-01; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 21-2 set the athlete rights to start by 2022-01-01, or earlier once a school adopted its policy), amended by P.A. 22-11 (effective 2022-07-01) and by P.A. 25-1 (effective 2025-03-03). Since 2025 it lets schools pay athletes through endorsement contracts and revenue sharing agreements under school policy, bars the NCAA and conferences from investigating or penalizing schools for permitted activity, and keeps athletes' pay records at public colleges out of FOIA without consent.
Can UConn and other Connecticut colleges pay athletes directly?
Yes, under state law, if the school adopts a policy allowing it. § 10a-56(b)(2) lets an athlete earn pay through an endorsement contract or a revenue sharing agreement directly with the school or an entity acting on its behalf, and § 10a-56(i) bars using state appropriations for it. Public schools that revenue-share report the yearly total and the number of athletes paid to the legislature's Higher Education and Employment Advancement Committee (§ 10a-56b).
Do I have to tell my school about an NIL deal in Connecticut?
§ 10a-56(c)(1) requires every Connecticut college's NIL policy to require athletes to disclose and submit a copy of each endorsement contract, written employment agreement and representation agreement they execute. The statute leaves the timing to the school's policy. NCAA rules, including Division I deal reporting through NIL Go, are separate from state law.
Does Connecticut require an NIL agent to be licensed?
Connecticut has no state registration for athlete agents: its Uniform Athlete Agents Act (Conn. Gen. Stat. §§ 20-559 to 20-559s) was repealed by P.A. 17-75, effective 2018-01-01. § 10a-56(a)(5) defines a "sports agent" as a duly licensed person acting under the federal Sports Agent Responsibility and Trust Act, and the athlete's agreement with an attorney or agent must be in writing (§ 10a-56(b)(1)).
Are NIL and revenue sharing payments at UConn public records?
Not individual ones. § 10a-56(f)(2) says records of an athlete's pay from an endorsement contract, employment or revenue sharing agreement at a public college are not subject to disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act unless the athlete gives written consent for each disclosure. § 10a-56b requires each public school that revenue-shares to report the yearly total and the number of athletes paid.
Be your own agent. Leave.
