Utah lawmakers want to take over high school sports. Price tag: nearly $1 million

Utah lawmakers want to yank control of high school sports from the private Utah High School Activities Association and park it inside a brand new state office—at a price tag of nearly $1 million a year. The move would also create a wide-open lane for partisan politics to crash Friday Night Lights.

Currently, high school sports in Utah are run by the Utah High School Activities Association (UHSAA), a private nonprofit separate from the state. UHSAA is governed by a 15-member Board of Trustees—local school board members, district superintendents, principals, plus charter, private school, and Utah State Board of Education representatives—with an Executive Committee that enforces rules and runs events.

It’s funded by ticket sales and sponsorships, not tax dollars.

SB271, from Sen. Keith Grover (R–Provo), blows up that arrangement. It creates an Office of Interscholastic Activities inside the Utah State Board of Education and shifts governing authority from UHSAA to the new office. The office sets eligibility, transfer, recruiting, and enforcement rules—and hears appeals. It can contract with an “association” (presumably UHSAA) to handle the logistics (scheduling, tournaments), and day-to-day operations, but governing power moves to the state.

A director appointed by the elected State Board of Education runs the office and hires staff “as necessary.”

Legislative analysts peg the annual cost at $864,200—new taxpayer money for a role UHSAA currently performs without state funding.

SB271 sets up an Interscholastic Advisory Council with public and private school reps, athletic directors, coaches, parents, at least one student-athlete, and a seat for the contracted association. The council drafts eligibility and transfer rules—but the State Board has to approve them and can modify them.

The bill hard-codes a pro-transfer policy inside state statute. The advisory council must adopt the most “inclusive” rules possible—“minimal friction,” honoring mobility and school choice. That’s a stark reversal from UHSAA’s current presumption against athletically motivated transfers, which often forces sit-out periods.

Moving oversight into a state agency overseen by elected, partisan state board members could inject politics into high school sports. Board members approve or rewrite the rules, and they’re elected in partisan contests.

Because the office is housed inside the State Board, its director answers to the Board. Rules coming from the advisory council only take effect if the Board signs off—and the Board can reshape them around hot‑button issues like school choice, gender policies, and private/charter participation.

The bill also requires an annual report to the Education Interim Committee about eligibility appeals, financial transparency, realignment, and other issues, which invites legislative scrutiny and hearings where partisan priorities can be pressed.

SB271 creates an environment that could inject partisan politics into the oversight of high school athletics in the state by moving control from a private board (UHSAA) into a state agency structure overseen by elected State Board of Education members with legislative oversight.

The bill tries to create some guardrails against that possibility by writing transfer policies into statute. The advisory council is made up of a mix of school reps, parents, coaches, and others, which diffuses decision-making beyond political appointees, but the board ultimately has override power.

If the legislation is approved, Utah would land on the more centralized end of the spectrum. Most states use independent associations, separate from state agencies. Some—Tennessee and Oklahoma—have tighter ties. Florida is trying to go further, with a governor‑appointed board overseeing high school sports.

SB271 goes further than that by creating a new state office and handing it governing power over high school sports.

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