Alabama Among Schools to Deny Request Seeking NIL Documents, Data

The University of Alabama was among the schools that denied a request from ESPN in August to disclose specific information regarding name, image and likeness (NIL) deals signed by its student-athletes.

According to ESPN's Paula Lavigne and Dan Murphy, 23 schools were asked to submit copies of NIL contracts to ESPN showing anything ranging from the athletes and companies involved to the compensation amount.

Alabama, Central Florida, Florida, Iowa, Iowa State, Louisiana State and Mississippi all denied ESPN's request to provide NIL information, while Florida State, Oklahoma State, UCLA and Washington State acknowledged the request but have neither accepted nor declined it.

Texas A&M, Maryland, Arizona, Arizona State, Illinois, Indiana, Nevada, Ohio State, Purdue, Texas, South Florida and Washington are among the schools that either provided ESPN with varying degrees of NIL information or offered to do so.

Alabama and Texas A&M were at the center of some NIL controversy in May when Crimson Tide head football coach Nick Saban claimed the Aggies' top recruiting class was a result of having "bought every player."

Texas A&M head coach Jimbo Fisher took great offense to Saban's comments, calling them "despicable" and insisting that "nothing was done wrong" on the program's end.

Saban supported the idea of NIL and athletes getting paid but also stressed the importance of regulating it.

Per Lavigne and Murphy, Alabama requires its athletes to disclose their NIL deals to the university, but the school told ESPN that it has "no responsive public documents" regarding NIL and thus did not accept the request.

Meanwhile, Texas A&M reportedly offered to provide ESPN with copies of 490 NIL contracts in June in exchange for a $1,470.06 processing fee. However, the school had only provided 47 contracts as of Thursday.

Texas A&M eventually provided ESPN with aggregate data, showing that football players received a total of $3.4 million in NIL money, which is 81 percent of the NIL money paid to all Texas A&M student-athletes.

Alabama has been the dominant force in college football since Saban took over as head coach in 2007, winning eight SEC titles and six national championships during that time.

Much of Bama's success has been a result of Saban's recruiting, which he consistently ruled prior to the advent of NIL.

Fisher was also a strong recruiter prior to NIL while at Florida State, leading the Seminoles to a national title in 2013. His strong recruiting has carried over to Texas A&M, and the Aggies could be a team in the national championship conversation in the near future, although they are off to a disappointing 3-2 start in 2022.