University of Maryland redacts Blueprint Sports contract after questions arise through 2025

Ahmed Ghafir
2 hours ago
2 min read

Blueprint Sports found itself amid controversy earlier this fall after terms of agreement with Oregon State revealed the structure for NIL donations and fees raised eyebrows. The backlash ultimately led Oregon State athletic director Brent Blaylock to publicly defend the contract before ultimately resigning and the Beavers looking to part ways with Blueprint Sports. A similar fate occured in Arkansas after the Razorbacks announced it, too, would soon sever ties with Blueprint Sports after two years of working with the NIL operation.

Among the other schools still partnering with Blueprint Sports includes Maryland, who was the first Power Four school to work with Blueprint Sports yet went a different direction publicly after seeing the backlash that Oregon State received. Sportico reported and IBG confirmed that Maryland has conceled its terms of agreement with Blueprint Sports, redacting nearly the entire nine-page document due to what is considered "confidential commerical information and treated as such by Blueprint Sports.

One part that was not redacted? The date the agreement was dated - April 29, 2025. The move was finalized under then-interim athletic director Colleen Sorem, who followed former athletic director Damon Evans and went on to be named the new executive deputy athletics director at SMU less than two months later. Maryland hired athletic director Jim Smith on May 15, 2025 - roughly two weeks after the new agreement was finalized.

It's a puzzling decision - both to agree to an extension and to conceal terms of agreement - for an athletic department that has been cash-strapped in recent memory, along with fresh commitments surrounding improved resources for the football program ahead of year eight of the Mike Locksley era.

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