Should sports marketing contracts be open?

The Associated Press reported Saturday that sports-marketing contracts with universities are "trade secrets" and schools are legally allowed to keep the amount of money that they receive through the contracts a secret.  Oregon's two largest universities are neglecting to make these records public.  The public interest is outweighed by the amount of benefit that the schools receive through these marketing contracts.  The school has released past and present records but has blacked out portions of the contracts that list the guaranteed annual amounts received, stating that contractors may offer less if they know how much the school has settled for in the past.  This has raised concerns among students and the community, since other schools seem free to admit this information, and these are technically public records.

Megan Humphreys