The law
Vermont has no college NIL statute. In short: None (no college NIL statute and no athlete-agent statute). Rows drawn from a statute come from the enacted text on the legislature's own site; rows drawn from a school or board policy name that policy. Every source is linked under Sources, read on October 21, 2026.
What it says
| Question | What applies | Section or source |
|---|---|---|
| Who is covered | No state statute. No Vermont law defines a student-athlete for NIL or agent purposes | None |
| Disclosure to the school | No state statute. For Division I athletes at the University of Vermont, NCAA Bylaws 22.2.2 and 22.2.2.2 (2026-27 Division I Manual) require reporting third-party deals worth $600 or more to the designated NIL clearinghouse, NIL Go, within five business days of signing; other Vermont colleges follow the rules of their own division or association and their own policies | NCAA Bylaws 22.2.2, 22.2.2.2 |
| Banned categories | No statute or University of Vermont policy found on the university's policy index limits the categories of an athlete's own NIL deals. The 2023 wagering law regulates the advertisers instead. A fantasy sports operator may not state or imply endorsement by "collegiate athletes" in an advertisement in Vermont, and sports wagering advertisements may not depict anyone under 21 as participating in or endorsing sports wagering. It also makes athletes prohibited bettors on events overseen by their sport's governing body | 31 V.S.A. §§ 1301(9)(E), 1332(b)(2), 1340(e)(2) |
| Conflicts with team contracts | Not addressed | None |
| School and coach involvement | Not addressed | None |
| Direct pay from the school | No Vermont statute allows or bars it; it is governed by the House settlement and NCAA and conference rules | None |
| Agents and attorneys | Vermont has no athlete-agent registration law. No chapter in the chapter lists of the 33 titles of the Vermont Statutes, including Title 26 (professions and occupations) and Title 9 (commerce and trade), is an athlete-agent chapter; no state registration, fee, contract form, cancellation period or notice to the athletic director applies. The federal Sports Agent Responsibility and Trust Act still applies to agents | V.S.A. chapter lists, Titles 1 to 33; 15 U.S.C. 7801 et seq. |
| High school and minors | No state NIL statute; high school NIL is set by the Vermont Principals' Association, as described on the high school page | None |
| Financial literacy | Not addressed | None |
| Scholarship protection | Not addressed | None |
| Confidentiality of contracts | No NIL exemption. Student records are exempt from public inspection under the Public Records Act, though available under FERPA; whether an NIL contract held by the University of Vermont is a "student record" is not stated | 1 V.S.A. § 317(c)(11) |
| NCAA and conference penalties | Not addressed. No Vermont law bars the NCAA, a conference or the College Sports Commission from penalizing a school or athlete | None |
| Remedies and enforcement | Not addressed by any NIL or agent statute | None |
| Employee status | Not addressed | None |
A legislature that has not taken up NIL
Vermont is one of the states where college NIL has never reached a bill. Searches of the General Assembly's bill database for the 2021-2022, 2023-2024 and 2025-2026 bienniums, by title and full text (run 2026-10-21), find bills on youth sports, sports wagering and school governance, and concurrent resolutions honoring high school champions, but no measure on college athletes' name, image or likeness. The only recent bill with "likeness" in its title, H.563 (2025-2026), would create a right of action for unauthorized use of a person's likeness obtained near the immediate entrance of an essential care facility.
No athlete-agent law
Vermont never adopted the Uniform Athlete Agents Act or its 2015 revision. Title 26 of the Vermont Statutes, where Vermont places its licensed professions, lists 75 chapters, including one for athletic trainers (chapter 83), but none for athlete agents, and no other title's chapter list has one either. So in Vermont no state office registers agents, no state contract warning is required, there is no state cancellation period, and an agent has no state duty to notify a college's athletic director. Federal law fills part of the gap: the Sports Agent Responsibility and Trust Act (15 U.S.C. 7801 et seq.) bars agents from misleading student athletes or giving them anything of value to sign, and requires a written warning about eligibility on agency contracts.
Sports betting rules that touch Vermont college athletes
The closest Vermont has come to legislating on college athletes is its 2023 sports wagering law (Acts No. 63, 31 V.S.A. ch. 25, effective 2023-06-14). It defines "prohibited sports event" to include any college game in which a team of a college "primarily located in Vermont" plays, and any high school or college event held in Vermont, except games of a tournament in which a Vermont team takes part (31 V.S.A. § 1301(10)). It lists amateur athletes among "prohibited sports bettor[s]" for wagers on events overseen by their own sport's governing body (§ 1301(9)(E)), and lets a college ask the Department of Liquor and Lottery to restrict wagering on its events (§ 1302(d)). It does not regulate an athlete's own NIL deals, but it limits the advertisers: a fantasy sports operator may not state or imply endorsement by "collegiate athletes" in an advertisement (§ 1332(b)(2)), and sports wagering advertisements may not depict anyone under 21 as participating in or endorsing sports wagering (§ 1340(e)(2)). NCAA rules and school policy decide the rest.
What applies instead
At the University of Vermont, NIL runs on NCAA and conference rules. Division I athletes report third-party deals of $600 or more through NIL Go within five business days under NCAA Bylaws 22.2.2 and 22.2.2.2; see how NIL Go works. The Public Records Act exempts student records from public inspection (1 V.S.A. § 317(c)(11)), and Vermont has no statute that addresses NIL contracts specifically.
How it changed
| Act | What it did | Effective |
|---|---|---|
| 1 V.S.A. § 317(c)(11) | exempts student records from public inspection, while making them available under the federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act; it is the closest Vermont statute to an NIL records rule | in force; § 317 added by 1975, No. 231 (Adj. Sess.), § 1, most recently amended by 2025, No. 11 (eff. 2025-09-01) and 2025, No. 20 (eff. 2025-05-13) |
| 2023 Acts and Resolves No. 63 (31 V.S.A. ch. 25) | legalized sports wagering; makes wagers on any college game involving a Vermont college team, and on any high school or college event held in Vermont, "prohibited sports events" (except tournament games), makes amateur athletes prohibited bettors on events overseen by their sport's governing body, bars fantasy sports advertising that states or implies endorsement by collegiate athletes, and bars sports wagering advertising that depicts anyone under 21 as endorsing wagering | 2023-06-14 |
| 2021-2022 (with the 2021 special session), 2023-2024 and 2025-2026 bienniums | no college NIL bill found; the General Assembly's bill-title keyword search ("likeness", "student athlete", "image and likeness", "athlete agent", "intercollegiate") and full-text phrase search ("image and likeness", "image or likeness", "student athlete", "athlete agent", "sports agent", "intercollegiate") returned no bill on college athletes' name, image or likeness (searched 2026-10-21) | not applicable |
Federal law
As of 2026-10-21, S. 4668, the Protect College Sports Act, passed the Senate on 2026-09-28 by 77 votes to 22 and has been held at the House desk since 2026-10-05 with no later action (govinfo bill status record, last updated 2026-10-07), so it is not law. Because Vermont has enacted neither an NIL law nor an agent law, the bill's preemption clause, § 121(a), would displace no Vermont statute, and its savings clause for "Uniform Athlete Agent Acts", § 121(b)(1)(A), would find no Vermont act to save. For a University of Vermont athlete the bill would be the first written NIL law of any kind: a duty to report Division I deals worth more than $600 within 5 days of signing, and compensation not otherwise reported within 30 days of receiving it (§ 101(b)(1), (5)), express permission for schools, conferences and collectives to pay for NIL (§ 101(c)), and, through § 102's amendments to the Sports Agent Responsibility and Trust Act, a 5 percent ceiling on what an agent may charge on an endorsement contract, no agency contracts that outlast eligibility, a private lawsuit for athletes, and a requirement that the agent "register with a State". The bill treats an agent as registered if the agent is a registered professional sports agent with a professional league or players association, or is "registered and certified under the All State Uniform Agent Acts in the State in which the agent operates", which Vermont does not offer.
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. Vermont's athlete-agent rules are on the state-by-state registration table.
- High school. High school NIL in Vermont 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 Vermont
Does Vermont have an NIL law in 2026?
No. As of 2026-10-21 Vermont has no college NIL statute, and title and full-text searches of the General Assembly's bill database for the 2021-2022, 2023-2024 and 2025-2026 bienniums found no NIL bill. The only 2025-2026 bill with "likeness" in its title, H.563, concerns "unauthorized use of a person's likeness obtained near the immediate entrance of an essential care facility", not athletes; it has been in the House Committee on Judiciary since 2026-01-06.
Can Vermont colleges pay athletes directly?
No Vermont statute addresses it. Whether the University of Vermont, the state's Division I school, may pay athletes is set by the House settlement and NCAA and conference rules, not by state law.
Do I have to tell my school about an NIL deal in Vermont?
No state law requires it. NCAA Bylaws 22.2.2 and 22.2.2.2 require Division I athletes, including those at the University of Vermont, to report third-party deals of $600 or more through NIL Go within five business days. Schools may set their own rules as well.
Does Vermont require an NIL agent to be licensed?
No. Vermont has no athlete-agent law: no chapter of the Vermont Statutes, including Title 26, which regulates professions, is an athlete-agent chapter, so there is no state registration, fee, required contract warning or cancellation period. What remains is federal: the Sports Agent Responsibility and Trust Act (15 U.S.C. 7801 et seq.) makes misleading promises and inducements by agents to student athletes an unfair or deceptive practice.
Are NIL contracts public records at the University of Vermont?
No statute names them. 1 V.S.A. § 317(c)(11) exempts student records from public inspection, and § 317(c)(9) exempts trade secrets; whether an NIL contract or disclosure kept by the university falls under either is not stated in the statute, and no Vermont court decision or guidance on NIL records was found.
Be your own agent. Leave.
