More States are Allowing High School Athletes to Monetize their NIL

Apr 10, 2023

Unlike college athletics, there is no national governing body for high school sports. It’s been nearly 18-months since the National Collegiate Athletic Association adopted interim rules allowing college athletes to profit from their name, image, and likeness (NIL) without losing their eligibility, and as of April 1, 2023, 25 states allow some form of NIL monetization at the high school level. A chart of all of the states and their current position on NIL deals is set out below. As you can see, it is still unclear in Arizona, Hawaii, and Vermont if high school athletes are allowed to profit on their NIL. Interestingly, a number of traditional college football powerhouse states—like Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Michigan, Ohio and Texas—expressly prohibit NIL deals at the high school level.

The availability of NIL deals for premier high school athletes is beginning to impact the landscape of high school sports across the country, especially for those players who live and play in states that currently prohibit NIL deals. A prime example of this shift is Jada Williams, a social media influencer (with over 670,000 Instagram followers) and a star high school point guard who recently moved from her home state of Missouri (where high school NIL deals are prohibited) to California (where they are allowed) to play hoops for La Jolla Country Day high school in San Diego. She is now reportedly earning six figures from half a dozen NIL deals. There are, undoubtedly, a number of other premier high school athletes who have also moved from a state that prohibits NIL deals to a NIL friendly state in order to cash in on their name, imagine, and likeness.

In evaluating opportunities, high school athletes and their parents or guardians would be wise to beware of potential risks and consider obtaining good counsel. Transferring in order to take advantage of NIL activity could endanger “amateurism” status at the high school level if an athlete runs afoul of state rules and regulations. But parents should do their research. This past summer, T.A. Cunningham, a 16-year-old Georgia native and high school football star, moved to California and transferred to a high profile Southern California football powerhouse as a junior. Enticed by an agency, he hoped to earn NIL money and eventually enter the NFL. Four games into the season, his high school, Los Alamitos, was informed by the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) that Cunningham was deemed ineligible and would have to sit out one year. The CIF ultimately cleared his transfer following receipt of a petition for a preliminary injunction describing how the Cunningham’s got caught up in a NIL recruiting scheme. Had the CIF not ruled in Cunningham’s favor, he could have been kept off the field for an entire season, throwing a serious wrench in his college recruitment.

The college NIL world is ever changing, and ever evolving. The high school NIL world is following in those footsteps and the old Will Rogers saying that “even if you’re on the right track, you’ll get run over if you just sit there,” may reverberate loudly throughout the 22 states that currently prohibit high school athletes from profiting off of their name, image, and likeness, if they maintain their anti-competitive posture.

STATE	NIL STATUS	RULE
Alaska	Permitted	ASAA Article 8, Section 1 & 2 Article 9, Section 2
California	Permitted	CIF Article 20 Rule 212
Colorado	Permitted	CHSAA 2000.12; Amended in April 2022
Connecticut	Permitted	CIAC Article 12 Rule 4.5.A
District of Columbia	Permitted	DCSAA Part V Section H
Idaho	Permitted	IDHSAA Rule 8-4 & 8-5
Illinois	Permitted	IHSA Rule 3.083
Iowa	Permitted	NIL Guidance
Louisiana	Permitted	LHSAA Section 1.25
Maine	Permitted	MPA Handbook
Maryland	Permitted	MPSSAA Subtitle 06 Chapter 03 Section 10
Massachusetts	Permitted	MIAA Handbook Rule 47
Minnesota	Permitted	MSHSL 201.00
Nebraska	Permitted	NSAA Rule 3.7.1
New Hampshire	Permitted	NHIAA Article II Section 6
New Jersey	Permitted	NJSIAA
New York	Permitted	NYSPHSAA Rule 2.2(c)
North Dakota	Permitted	NDHSAA
Oregon	Permitted	OSAA Rule 8.4
Pennsylvania	Permitted	PIAA Article II Sections 1-3
Rhode Island	Permitted	RIIL Article I Section 19
Tennessee	Permitted	SCHSL Article III Section 14
Utah	Permitted	UHSAA Section 6


Kansas	Limited	KSHSAA Rule 21
Nevada	Limited	NAC Rule 385B.374

Arizona	Unclear	ASAA Rule 15.11
Hawaii	Unclear	HHSAA Section 2(I)
Vermont	Unclear	VPA Section 2

Alabama	NOT Permitted	AHSAA Rule 1, Section 8
Arkansas	NOT Permitted	AAA Article III Eligibility Rule 10. Amateurism
Delaware	NOT Permitted	Del.Admin. Code Title 14 Section 2.5.1.7
Florida	NOT Permitted	FHSAA Rule 9.9
Georgia	NOT Permitted	GHSA Rule 1.90
Indiana	NOT Permitted	IHSAA Part II Rule 5-2
Kentucky	NOT Permitted	KHSAA Bylaw 10
Michigan	NOT Permitted	MHSAA Section VIII Part B & C
Mississippi	NOT Permitted	MHSAA Rule 2.39
Missouri	NOT Permitted	MHSAA 3.6.1 and 3.6.2
Montana	NOT Permitted	MHSA Article II Section 15.1, 16
New Mexico	NOT Permitted	NMAA Section VI Subsection 6.18
North Carolina	NOT Permitted	NCHSAA Rule 1.2.15(a) and (b)
Ohio	NOT Permitted	OHSAA Bylaws, 4-10 and 5
Oklahoma	NOT Permitted	OSSAA Rule 5
South Carolina	NOT Permitted	SCHSL Article III Section 14
South Dakota	NOT Permitted	SDHSAA Chapter 2 Section 6
Texas	NOT Permitted	State law SB 1385 Section (j) – (1) & (2)
Virginia	NOT Permitted	VHSL 28B-2-3
Washington	NOT Permitted	WIAA 18.24.0-18.24.5
West Virginia	NOT Permitted	WVSSAC Title 127 Section 127-2-11
Wisconsin	NOT Permitted	WIAA Section III.C
Wyoming	NOT Permitted	WHSAA Rule 5.7.1

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