"Through a months-long D-I dragnet of public records requests, Sportico has obtained royalty reports marked 'confidential ' showing Learfield IMG's full financial take with eight of its university partners, including Nebraska, whose deal is set to expire June 30.

'Of the scores of schools Sportico made public records requests to, most refused to furnish their Learfield IMG royalty reports, or provided heavily redacted documents, claiming that the information constituted corporate trade secrets that were exempt from state disclosure requirements. Following a records request made to the University of Texas, Learfield IMG directly petitioned the state Attorney General's Open Records Division to deny it, arguing that the release of UT's royalty reports would be 'profoundly detrimental' to its business.

"'The trade-secret exemption is probably the single most abused and distorted of all freedom-of-information exemptions,' said Frank LoMonte, director of the Brechner Center for Freedom of Information at the University of Florida. 'If open records laws mean anything at all, they mean that the public gets to see how an agency's money is being spent and where revenue is coming from. The public has an absolute right to know whether a university negotiated a good bargain, or whether a commercial partner like Learfield is getting a preferential sweetheart deal.'"