Published 10:54 pm Tuesday, June 18, 2024 By Staff Reports INDIANAPOLIS, In — At about this time three years ago, leaders in the high school sports world were concerned about the fallout from the NCAA’s decision to allow college athletes to monetize their success and profit from their own Name, Image and Likeness (NIL). The NFHS expressed concern about high school athletes profiting from their NIL. After all, NFHS member state associations had rules in place that prohibited student-athletes from receiving money in any form that was connected to wearing their school uniform.
Since that historic ruling in college sports, 36 state high school associations have enacted NIL policies, with the Florida High School Athletic Association being the latest last week. The landscape has been considerably different at the high school level as no state association permits a student-athlete to profit from their NIL while wearing the school uniform or connected to the school in any fashion. High school NIL rules afford athletes the same entrepreneurial opportunities as any high school student.
While about two-thirds of the state associations have established NIL policies, the number of student-athletes involved in NIL deals has been minimal, and recent statistics from the Georgia High School Association confirm that belief. In an article in the Connect Savannah publication, the GHSA noted that since updating its NIL policies last October, only 44 (.01 percent) of 429,714 eligible student-a.