Disclosure Requirement
Also known as: FTC Disclosure, Sponsored Disclosure
In plain English
A disclosure requirement is the obligation to clearly tell your audience when a post is paid for — usually with #ad or #sponsored.
Full definition
A disclosure requirement is a contractual or regulatory obligation to publicly mark sponsored content. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Endorsement Guides require any "material connection" between an endorser and a brand to be disclosed in a way the average viewer will notice and understand — typically with #ad, #sponsored, or platform-native paid-partnership tags placed at the top of a caption. State NIL statutes and school NIL policies often layer additional disclosure rules (e.g., disclosing the deal to the institution within 7 days). Failure to disclose can trigger FTC enforcement actions against both the brand and the athlete, school-level NIL violations, and reputational damage. Athletes should confirm exactly which disclosure format is required, and demand the brand indemnify them for any FTC action arising from the brand's approved disclosure language.
What it looks like in a contract
Athlete shall include the hashtag "#ad" or "#sponsored" at the beginning of the caption of each Sponsored Post in compliance with the Federal Trade Commission Endorsement Guides, and shall use any platform-native paid-partnership tagging functionality where available.
Synthesised from common contract patterns. Not lifted from any specific real contract.
How RevU helps
RevU's NIL contract analyzer detects disclosure requirement provisions automatically — flagging the exact triggering language, scoring athlete-vs-brand friendliness, and surfacing negotiation leverage where it exists. See Compliance flagging in RevU for the full product context.
Check your contract freeRelated terms
Endorsement Clause
An endorsement clause is the part of the contract where you promise to publicly promote a brand in exchange for money.
Indemnification
Indemnification is a promise that one side will cover the other side's legal costs and damages if certain bad things happen.
NIL Go
NIL Go is the NCAA's required clearinghouse — run by Deloitte — that reviews any NIL deal worth $600 or more for D1 athletes.
Conflict of Interest Clause
A conflict-of-interest clause requires you to avoid relationships or commitments that would compromise the brand partnership.