$14.6 Million Athlete Pay Plan for UW-Madison Hits Bipartisan Roadblock
Senate Republicans split on funding and NIL rules, leaving bill dependent on Democrats who also balked.
PBS Wisconsin films “Bucky!” a special on the history of Bucky Badger, on Wednesday, Sept. 24, 2025, at Vilas Hall in Madison, Wis. Angela Major/WPR
The Legislature’s budget committee voted Wednesday to give more than $14 million a year to the University of Wisconsin-Madison for athletic facilities costs as the sports powerhouse pays student athletes for “name, image, likeness” deals, known as NIL.
But the vote on the GOP-led Joint Finance Committee suggests the legislation will require Democratic votes to get over the finish line in the Senate.
The legislation, which would also regulate NIL deals, comes five years after college athletes were first granted the right to make money off such agreements. And in 2024, a landmark federal settlement gave schools participating in certain athletic conferences — including the Big Ten, of which UW-Madison is a part — the authority to pay student athletes. That’s allowed some star players to move between programs in search of more lucrative pay.
The annual $14.6 million included in the bill passed Wednesday aims to free up school funds so the Board of Regents can pay students according to NIL deals. The committee vote also grants $200,000 apiece for facilities at UW-Milwaukee and UW-Green Bay.
The bill also clarifies that, while being paid by the university, those students are not employees of the Universities of Wisconsin. And it allows athletes to leverage their names and likeness outside of official team activities, and to get agents or representatives, but it would prohibit the Board of Regents or the UW from using state funds to help students land or navigate these deals.
It also exempts the details of the deals from the state’s open records laws.
The legislation has already passed in the Assembly on a near-unanimous vote, and has passed out of a Senate committee, setting it up for possible passage when the Senate convenes next week.
But Wednesday’s vote in the Joint Finance Committee called that into question. That bill passed 8-5, with three Senate Republicans voting against it, suggesting they’ll be no votes on the floor, too. That means it will only move forward in the Senate with Democratic backing. The finance committee’s two Democratic senators also voted against the bill.
The measure is co-authored by Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu, R-Oostburg. It’s unclear whether he’ll advance the bill if it requires minority party support.
A memo from the nonpartisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau breaks down the funding request. It finds that the projected cost of maintaining UW-Madison facilities is less than $14.6 million, and says that any amount left over in a given year would return to the state.
Legislative committee advances funds so UW-Madison can pay student athletes was originally published by Wisconsin Public Radio.
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I agree with student athletes being able to profit off of their name, likeness, etc. but I do no want to have to pay for it. If they are good enough to profit off of their name, do so by outside deals. Why are we paying them?