The transparency group says both universities broke state law by keeping multimillion-dollar revenue-sharing contracts secret.

Damien Willis, Organ Mountain News

ALBUQUERQUE - The New Mexico Foundation for Open Government and an NMSU student journalist have sued the state’s two flagship universities, claiming both violated the Inspection of Public Records Act by refusing to release contracts showing how public funds are being used to pay student-athletes.

The suits, filed in Bernalillo County District Court, allege that the University of New Mexico and New Mexico State University ignored or denied requests for Name, Image and Likeness and revenue-sharing agreements created under the House v. NCAA settlement, which allows Division I programs to share up to $20.5 million a year with athletes.

Both universities cited the federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act and the state’s trade-secret statute to justify withholding the records. NMFOG argues those laws don’t apply to financial contracts that could easily be released with student names redacted.

The NMSU case, filed Sept. 18, 2025, has been consolidated with a nearly identical complaint against UNM, meaning a single ruling could set precedent for all public universities in the state.

The UNM complaint adds a new twist: its online records portal automatically rejects any request containing “name, image and likeness” or “revenue sharing,” displaying a message that the documents “are not public.” NMFOG calls that an unlawful pre-emptive denial.

Co-plaintiff Nick Núñez, a reporter for NMSU’s student paper The Round Up, joins NMFOG in seeking the records, attorney fees and a court order reaffirming that universities must disclose how taxpayer money flows into athlete compensation.

The filings follow a 2024 case in which a former UNM Daily Lobo editor — now with the Santa Fe New Mexican — won a similar public-records fight with UNM, a ruling that affirmed student journalists’ rights under New Mexico law.

If NMFOG prevails, the decision could become a statewide test of how far universities can stretch privacy laws to conceal their athletic finances.

Damien Willis is founder and editor of Organ Mountain News. If you have a personal story to share or a lead we should follow up on, reach out at OrganMountainNews@gmail.com or connect with him on X at @damienwillis.