Florida State’s revenue-sharing contracts draw national media scrutiny

Florida State University has never been a stranger to controversy. Whether proper criticism has been warranted is on a case-by-case basis.

From "Free Shoes University" to last year's NIL violations, FSU has been scrutinized and punished by the NCAA and the national media across the program's history.

However, as the House settlement inches toward enactment and the wild, wild west of collegiate athletes in the NIL era reaches for a new milestone, criticism is rearing its head from GMs, agents, and players, not the National Collegiate Athletic Association.

Chris Hummer of CBS Sports shared some of the anonymous (and non-anonymous) sentiment from these new, influential parties in negotiations, and Florida State's contractual practices have come under the microscope.

For instance, Mit Winter, an attorney who "works heavily in the NIL space," shared with CBS Sports the following details:

"Since this is new and uncharted territory, they're trying to put in as many things as they can think of and protect that university and see what they get push back on and what they don't."

Hummer also mentioned that CBS Sports has seen some of the clauses in the potentially predatory contracts, including harsh fines up to $2,500 for losing equipment such as cleats and $1,000 fines for using controlled substances.

Other clauses pertain to injuries and illnesses that could "affect the value of rights granted to the school."

In the case of one of FSU's clauses, Hummer reports, "The way it's written allows Florida State to renegotiate or even cancel a player's contract at its discretion after any sort of injury -- among other potential liquidated damages provisions included as part of the contract -- including those that happen on the football field."

An agent for an FSU player anonymously mentioned that he was "disappointed by the adversarial nature" of the agreements offered to players. One Big Ten GM said, "That's not normal," and a Big 12 GM said, "I do understand they have all the leverage, but f***."

A Florida State University spokesperson responded to these allegations, saying the hypotheticals surrounding each student-athlete's situation are "unique and impossible to predict."