By: Richard Giller, Esq.
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 |