Report: Florida State defends controversial rev-share contract language that concerned agents, rival GMs

Florida State released a statement to CBS Sports defending language in drafts of the school’s revenue-sharing contracts. The school addressed reporting from CBS Sports detailing controversial language, which concerned agents and rival GMs.

FSU pointed out that individual situations will be “unique” as the revenue-sharing era gets underway in college athletics. Under the newly approved House v. NCAA settlement — which will be implemented July 1 – schools will be able to directly share up to $20.5 million with athletes, and 75% is widely expected to go toward football.

“As we enter into a new age of collegiate athletics, Florida State has put together an agreement that provides deliverables and expectations for all parties,” Florida State’s statement to CBS Sports read. “Each individual situation will be unique and the hypotheticals are impossible to predict. However, we are committed to continuing to provide an elite experience for our student-athletes in all aspects of their collegiate career. Florida State is looking forward to the mutually beneficial partnerships with our student-athletes in this new era.”

In drafts viewed by CBS Sports, a clause said Florida State could unilaterally extend a player at the end of a contract without going through negotiations with them. Additionally, there’s a maximum $2,500 fine for the first offense is a player loses any team equipment, such as cleats, and the maximum fine for use of a controlled substance for the first time is $1,000.

The drafts also include a clause regarding breach of contract. It includes “illness or injury which is serious enough to affect the value of rights granted to the school,” CBS Sports reported. Florida State could either renegotiate or cancel a player’s deal at its discretion after any sort of injury, according to the way the clause is written. The language concerned rival general managers’ agents who spoke with CBS Sports.

“Some of the concepts are pretty standard,” an agent, who represents at least one player at Florida State, told CBS Sports. “But FSU is going about this far more aggressively than any school I’ve seen. I’m disappointed by the adversarial nature of these contracts.”

Judge Claudia Wilken approved the House v. NCAA settlement earlier this month, officially ushering in the revenue-sharing era in college sports. The cap is set at $20.5 million for the first year of the settlement, and that figure is expected to increase annually as part of the 10-year agreement.

While Florida State has not confirmed how it will distribute the rev-share funds, the Board of Regents paved the way for the university to do so. Many schools across the country are planning to share 75% of the funds with football, 15% with men’s basketball, 5% with women’s basketball and 5% with the remainder of the sports.