Overview
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has issued information requests to 20 universities—all with NCAA Division I sports programs—as part of an inquiry into whether sports agents are complying with the Sports Agent Responsibility and Trust Act (SPARTA). It is not public which specific universities received the information requests. "Agents that work with student athletes have responsibilities and legal requirements including notifying colleges and universities when their student athletes have signed agent contracts," said Christopher Mufarrige, Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. "This inquiry is aimed at better understanding whether sports agents are complying with the law and the degree to which student athletes are being protected." The FTC's initiative underscores continued attention to the college sports marketplace and reflects a willingness to investigate whether existing safeguards for student-athletes and institutions are being followed.
SPARTA, codified at 15 U.S.C. §§ 7801–7807, is a federal consumer protection statute designed to curb deceptive and unfair practices by sports agents when dealing with student-athletes. Among other things, SPARTA requires specified disclosures in athlete–agent contracts and obligates both the agent and the student-athlete to notify the educational institution’s athletic director when an agency contract is entered into. In addition to any enforcement actions taken by the FTC, SPARTA expressly creates a right of action for universities—not extended to individual student athletes—damaged by agency violations of the statute. This statutory right elevates agency compliance failures from a regulatory issue to a direct litigation risk. While SPARTA operates at the federal level, there is also the state-level Uniform Athlete Agent Act, which sets forth similar requirements in at least 40 states.
Athletes, agencies, and institutions should take note. For universities, the FTC's requests highlight the importance of document storage and collection practices—particularly records relating to agent communications, disclosures, and NIL arrangements—given the possibility of both regulatory scrutiny and institution-initiated actions under SPARTA. For agencies, the message is equally clear: SPARTA’s disclosure and conduct requirements apply whenever the client is a collegiate athlete. As agencies expand their representation to influencers—who may themselves be student-athletes—agencies should err on the side of transparency and ensure that required SPARTA disclosures are made promptly and consistently whenever a client is or may be involved in collegiate athletics. Student-athletes, for their part, should be alert to agents or intermediaries who pressure them to sign quickly, promise guaranteed compensation, or discourage them from seeking independent advice, as these are indicators of conduct that SPARTA was designed to prevent.
Steptoe's industry-leading Sports Integrity Team is monitoring these and related developments; check back here for relevant updates. Steptoe routinely advises clients in the collegiate sports world on navigating these evolving compliance and enforcement risks.
