New Texas legislation allows high school sports seniors to benefit from NIL

Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed a bill that will allow high school sports seniors to benefit from their name, image, and likeness (NIL).

According to KBTX’s Travis Brown, the state’s House of Representatives passed House Bill 126 via two-thirds vote. It needed an additional vote after including that no athlete below 17 years old to sign an NIL deal.

District 84 Representative Carl Tepper is HB 126’s primary author, with Trent Ashby and Aicha Davis as joint authors. Brandon Creighton sponsored the bill, while Jose Menendez is a co-sponsor.

As he shared with Brown, the representatives wanted to ratify the bill in the summertime when recruitment is highly active. Likewise, this new legislation will allow universities in Texas to have more fight in recruiting high school athletes.

Now that it’s a law, high school sports seniors can leverage NIL deals to earn money while representing their schools. However, the university these athletes committed to must have full knowledge of these contracts. That way, the student-athlete or the academic institution can prevent signing deals that are against team rules.

This bill is subject to amendments based on the pending House vs. NCAA settlement later this year. However, unlike prevailing NIL rules, Texas won’t allow student-athletes to endorse alcohol, tobacco, and nicotine-based products. Likewise, they cannot sign NIL deals with sports wagering and sexual-oriented businesses.

Meanwhile, the Texas Policy Research website states, “The bill also clarifies that student athletes are not considered employees of the institutions and may not use institutional trademarks or facilities in NIL deals without explicit permission.”

Furthermore, the research center recommended voting for this bill because it “removes state-imposed barriers that limited participation in the growing NIL economy, allowing universities and athletes to engage in competitive and voluntary market activity.”

Texas is home to some of the most prestigious college and high school sports programs in the country, especially in basketball and football.