Illinois becomes 25th state to allow NIL on high school level

The Illinois High School Association has become the 25th group to join the ever-growing list of states allowing high school student-athletes to participate in NIL activities without losing eligibility.

Two weeks ago, the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association passed an amendment allowing NIL deals for high school athletes. Then a day later, the Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association did the same thing. Last week, the Maryland Public Secondary Schools Athletic Association became the 24th state to approve it.

Then came the news on Tuesday, when the IHSA officially became the 25th state organization to permit high school athletes to monetize their NIL and maintain their eligibility. Four hundred nineteen member schools in Illinois voted to join the other states allowing NIL, while 50 member schools voted against it and 46 schools cast no opinion votes.

For many observers, the news out of Illinois is a massive NIL development.

“We’re now almost at a tipping point with 25 high school athletic associations – 24 states and Washington D.C. – where high school athletes can monetize their NILs,” said Mit Winter, a sports attorney at Kennyhertz Perry LLC. “One more and athletes in more than half of the country will be able to be paid for the use of their NILs and maintain their high school eligibility.

“As more state high school athletic associations change their policies, it puts more pressure on the holdout associations to do the same and creates a domino effect. That’s a good thing, as more high school athletes won’t feel the need to move to take advantage of NIL opportunities.”

“And second, the Illinois policy change adds another populous state to the list, a state with lots of football and basketball talent that could be attractive to businesses and brands.”

NIL in Illinois could start dominoes in Midwest

Illinois certainly produces a solid number of top football recruits each year. But the state is certainly a hotbed for basketball talent. That’s especially true in the Chicago area.

In the future, talent like Michigan State signee Jeremy Fears, K-State signee Dai Dai Ames or On3 Consensus four-star junior center James Brown could start to benefit from NIL while in the high school ranks.

“The IHSA’s adoption here is significant since the Prairie State produces a lot of high-end basketball talent every year and Illinois becomes the first state in the East North Central subdivision to permit its athletes to monetize their NIL,” sad Dan Greene, a NIL expert and associate attorney at Newman & Lickstein in Syracuse, N.Y. “I wouldn’t be surprised to see the dominoes start to fall in neighboring states like Indiana, Michigan, Ohio and Wisconsin soon.”

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What type of NIL is allowed in Illinois?

The policy in Illinois mirrors many of the states that have made changes to their handbooks and guidelines in 2022.

Under the new policy, it is permissible for student-athletes to financially gain from the use of their own NIL. Much like in other states, student-athletes must keep their NIL activities and participation in interscholastic activities separate.

Other limitations include:

• The student may not use any member school’s facilities in association with NIL activity.

• The student may not engage in NIL activity during school hours, while traveling to or from any IHSA event, or during an IHSA event including any practice, rehearsal, meeting, game, tournament or any similar event that could be inappropriate or distractive.

• The student may not engage in any NIL activity associated with game/gambling, alcoholic beverages, tobacco, cannabis, banned or illegal substances, adult entertainment products or services, firearms or other wepaons.

Where is NIL allowed for high schoolers?

After the IHSA decision, there are now 25 high school activity associations across the country that allow their student-athletes to participate in NIL without losing eligibility.

States that changed their bylaws in 2022 to allow NIL on the high school level:

• Colorado
• District of Columbia
• Idaho
• Illinois
• Iowa
• Louisiana
• Maine
• Maryland
• Massachusetts
• Minnesota
• North Dakota
• Oklahoma
• Oregon
• Pennsylvania
• Rhode Island
• Tennessee
• Utah
• Washington

It’s also permissible in Alaska, California, Connecticut, Kansas, Nebraska, New Jersey and New York. Plus, officials in Nevada and Arkansas are also having serious discussions about revising their current NIL regulations.

Even so, there are still plenty of state associations that have yet to make a move toward allowing NIL on the high school level. That’s especially true in football powerhouse states like Florida, Georgia and Texas.