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SB2292 • 2026

Education, Higher

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 49, Chapter 7, Part 1, relative to the confidentiality of intercollegiate athletics program records.

Education
Active

The official status still shows this bill as active or still awaiting another formal step.

Sponsor
Stevens, Zachary
Last action
2026-03-26
Official status
Sponsor(s) Added.
Effective date
Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

The bill summary does not provide details on how public access will be affected, leaving this point uncertain.

Keeping College Sports Records Private

This bill changes Tennessee's laws to keep certain college sports records private and adds new rules for commercial contracts related to these programs.

What This Bill Does

  • Removes the end date for keeping certain college sports records secret that were about game or player integrity.
  • Adds new rules to keep commercial contracts related to college sports programs secret if they could hurt businesses' economic advantage if made public. These new rules will be repealed on July 1, 2033.
  • Says these new and old rules do not give anyone except a business the right to sue over them.

Who It Names or Affects

  • Public colleges and universities in Tennessee that have intercollegiate athletics programs.
  • Businesses involved with college sports contracts.

Terms To Know

Intercollegiate Athletics Program
Sports teams at public colleges or universities that compete against other schools.
Commercial Contracts
Business agreements made to support college sports programs.

Limits and Unknowns

  • The bill does not specify what happens after July 1, 2033, for the new rules about commercial contracts.
  • It is unclear how this will affect public access to information about college sports.

Amendments

These notes stay tied to the official amendment files and metadata from the legislature.

Amendment 1-0 to HB2141

Plain English: The amendment changes Tennessee's laws to keep certain college sports records secret and limits what information can be shared about business contracts related to these programs.

  • Records of intercollegiate athletics that relate to game or player integrity will remain confidential, even if other laws say they should be public.
  • Commercial contracts for college sports programs are also kept private unless the contract's total state funding amount, existence, parties involved, and general topic can be shared publicly.
  • Businesses can sue if their economic advantage is threatened by the disclosure of information under these rules.
  • The amendment does not explain all details about how confidentiality will be enforced or what happens when records are mistakenly made public.

Bill History

  1. 2026-04-07 Tennessee General Assembly

    Transmitted to Governor for his action.

  2. 2026-04-01 Tennessee General Assembly

    Signed by Senate Speaker

  3. 2026-04-01 Tennessee General Assembly

    Signed by H. Speaker

  4. 2026-03-27 Tennessee General Assembly

    Enrolled; ready for sig. of H. Speaker.

  5. 2026-03-26 Tennessee General Assembly

    Sponsor(s) Added.

  6. 2026-03-26 Tennessee General Assembly

    Companion House Bill substituted

  7. 2026-03-26 Tennessee General Assembly

    Passed Senate, Ayes 29, Nays 0, PNV 1

  8. 2026-03-26 Tennessee General Assembly

    Senate substituted House Bill for companion Senate Bill.

  9. 2026-03-24 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on Senate Regular Calendar for 3/26/2026

  10. 2026-03-23 Tennessee General Assembly

    Received from House, Passed on First Consideration

  11. 2026-03-19 Tennessee General Assembly

    Engrossed; ready for transmission to Sen.

  12. 2026-03-19 Tennessee General Assembly

    Passed H., as am., Ayes 74, Nays 6, PNV 7

  13. 2026-03-19 Tennessee General Assembly

    H. adopted am. (Amendment 1 - HA0637)

  14. 2026-03-16 Tennessee General Assembly

    H. Placed on Regular Calendar for 3/19/2026

  15. 2026-03-16 Tennessee General Assembly

    Reset on cal. for 3/19/2026

  16. 2026-03-12 Tennessee General Assembly

    H. Placed on Regular Calendar for 3/16/2026

  17. 2026-03-11 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on cal. Calendar & Rules Committee for 3/12/2026

  18. 2026-03-10 Tennessee General Assembly

    Rec. for pass. if am., ref. to Calendar & Rules Committee

  19. 2026-03-09 Tennessee General Assembly

    Sponsor(s) Added.

  20. 2026-03-05 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on cal. Education Committee for 3/10/2026

  21. 2026-03-04 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on cal. Education Committee for 3/10/2026

  22. 2026-03-04 Tennessee General Assembly

    Rec for pass if am by s/c ref. to Education Committee

  23. 2026-02-25 Tennessee General Assembly

    Recommended for passage, refer to Senate Calendar Committee

  24. 2026-02-25 Tennessee General Assembly

    Sponsor(s) Added.

  25. 2026-02-25 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on s/c cal Higher Education Subcommittee for 3/4/2026

  26. 2026-02-18 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on Senate Education Committee calendar for 2/25/2026

  27. 2026-02-05 Tennessee General Assembly

    Passed on Second Consideration, refer to Senate Education Committee

  28. 2026-02-05 Tennessee General Assembly

    Assigned to s/c Higher Education Subcommittee

  29. 2026-02-05 Tennessee General Assembly

    P2C, ref. to Education Committee

  30. 2026-02-04 Tennessee General Assembly

    Intro., P1C.

  31. 2026-02-02 Tennessee General Assembly

    Introduced, Passed on First Consideration

  32. 2026-02-02 Tennessee General Assembly

    Filed for introduction

  33. 2026-02-02 Tennessee General Assembly

    Filed for introduction

Official Summary Text

Present law classifies as confidential and not open for public inspection records maintained by an intercollegiate athletics program of a public institution of higher education if the records contain information relating to game or player integrity and th
at is traditionally not revealed publicly due to the public institution of higher education's need to maintain competitiveness in the sport to which the records relate. Such provision is scheduled to be repealed on July 1, 2026.

This bill:

(1) Removes the repeal date for the present law exception to the open records act;

(2) Adds an additional exception for
records of or relating to an intercollegiate athletics program of a public institution of higher education if
the
records are commercial contracts entered into solely in furtherance of an intercollegiate athletics program and contain information that if disclosed to the public, reasonably could be used to affect the economic advantage of a business over its competit
ors. The new exception will be repealed July 1, 2033; and

(3) Specifies that neither exception affords a private cause of action, liability, or basis for injunctive relief or equitable relief by any private person or entity except for a business asserting that disclosure of information would undermine an econo
mic advantage over its competitor.

ON MARCH 19, 2026, THE HOUSE ADOPTED AMENDMENT #1 AND PASSED HOUSE BILL 2141, AS AMENDED.

AMENDMENT #1 a
dds that, in circumstances where records are deemed confidential and not open for public inspection on the basis of this bill's exemption for certain commercial contracts,

the exemption must not be construed to treat as confidential the information of the aggregate amount of state appropriated funds expended under such a contract, the existence of such a contract, the identity of the contracting parties of such a contract,
or the general topic of such a contract.

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text 
HOUSE BILL 2141
By Zachary

SENATE BILL 2292
By Stevens
SB2292
011881
- 1 -

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 49,
Chapter 7, Part 1, relative to the confidentiality of
intercollegiate athletics program records.

WHEREAS, this State fosters the growth of its sports and entertainment industry and
encourages lawful competition and economic development to further academics, athletics,
trade, and commerce in Tennessee; now, therefore,
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE:
SECTION 1. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 49-7-170(a), is amended by deleting
the subsection and substituting instead the following:
(a) Notwithstanding § 10-7-504 or another law to the contrary, records of or
relating to an intercollegiate athletics program of a public institution of higher education
must be treated as confidential and must not be open for public inspection if:
(1) The records contain information relating to game or player integrity
and that is traditionally not revealed publicly due to the public institution of higher
education's need to maintain competitiveness in the sport to which the records
relate; or
(2) The records are commercial contracts entered into solely in
furtherance of an intercollegiate athletics program and contain information that if
disclosed to the public, reasonably could be used to affect the economic
advantage of a business over its competitors.
SECTION 2. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 49-7-170(f), is amended by deleting
the subsection and substituting instead the following:

- 2 - 011881

(f) This section does not create or afford any private cause of action, liability, or
basis for injunctive relief or equitable relief by any private person or entity except for a
business asserting that disclosure of information would undermine an economic
advantage over its competitor.
SECTION 3. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 49-7-170, is amended by adding the
following as a new subsection (g):
(g) Subdivision (a)(2) is repealed on July 1, 2033.
SECTION 4. This act takes effect upon becoming a law, the public welfare requiring it.