NIL policy proposal for North Carolina high schoolers is on hold

High school athletes who attend member schools in the North Carolina High School Athletic Association will continue to not be allowed to monetize their name, image and likeness for the time being.

The NCHSAA Board of Directors approved an NIL policy proposal in May that would’ve taken effect July 1, 2023. However, the NCHSAA Board of Directors’ approval didn’t mark the last step in the rule-making process. A bill signed into law in 2021 requires the State Board of Education to enact the approved NIL policy proposal or make modifications to it. So, for now, NIL policy reform for the NCHSAA appears to be on hold.

“We’ve just all sort of been in a holding pattern as it relates to their ability to do anything with rules and part of the legislation that they would need to be able to put anything in place for the ’23-24 school year would require emergency rule-making authority that can only be given by the General Assembly,” NCHSAA commissioner Que Tucker told On3 Thursday afternoon. “So, without that, they can’t approve this particular rule. They can’t approve an NIL rule.”

WRAL‘s Nick Stevens obtained a letter that Tucker sent to member schools Thursday. In the letter, Tucker said schools should continue to advise athletes and their parents to follow the NCHSAA’s Amateur Rule as it’s currently stated in the NCHSAA Handbook.

“The standard rule-making process is lengthy and generally takes six months to a year to complete,” Tucker wrote. “The State Board is currently considering a proposed rule on many eligibility issues, which will likely include a consideration of NIL issues, but again, without specific legislative authority this cannot be done quickly.”

The State Board of Education met last week.

“Coming out of their meeting, they indicated to us that we can’t move forward doing anything without emergency rule-making authority,” Tucker told On3. “After a meeting with the Senate Bill 636 sponsors yesterday, it was clear that we needed to follow up with the membership and let them know where we stand with that policy.”

How NCHSAA, State Board of Education got here

At the time the NCHSAA Board of Directors approved the NIL policy proposal, there were 26 states, plus Washington, D.C., where athletic associations or state legislators passed a rule or law to allow at least some high school athletes to sign NIL deals without losing eligibility. That number has grown to 30 after the New Mexico Activities Association Board of Directors voted earlier this week to permit NIL activities.

The NCHSAA’s Amateur Rule says an individual or team can’t accept money, or items “by virtue of being on a ‘free list’ or ‘loan list.'” Individuals can accept a gift or merchandise up to $250 per sports season as long as it’s “totally consumable and nontransferable,” such as meals or trips.

Students can receive “essential expenses,” which include meals, lodging or transportation.

“At this point, what we’ve said to our membership is just move forward following the guidelines that are already in place as it relates to the Amateur Rule,” Tucker said.

North Carolina General Assembly gets involved

Due to past and present state bills that lawmakers in North Carolina proposed, the path for high school athletes to pursue NIL opportunities has more steps. In 2021, Gov. Roy Cooper signed House Bill 91. The law allows the State Board of Education to enter into a memorandum of understanding for a four-year term with one or more nonprofit organizations to enforce the rules that govern high school sports.

Tucker said she signed the memorandum of understanding in March 2022.

“The State Board, they make rules all across the board as it deals with our public education in the state of North Carolina,” Tucker said. “Anytime they’re putting forth rules, they have a process and so that process can take upwards to a year. We’ve always known that piece, especially as we’ve been dealing with the memorandum of understanding.”

The same day the NCHSAA Board of Directors approved the NIL policy proposal, the North Carolina Senate amended Senate Bill 636 to allow the State Board of Education the ability to create NIL rules and passed it to send it to the House of Representatives. It was referred to the Committee on Rules, Calendar, and Operations of the House.

“I don’t know if NIL is good or bad at the high school level,” Republican Sen. Vickie Sawyer, who’s a primary sponsor of the bill, previously told On3 when describing the motivations behind the bill. “I just know that it should be the state making that decision and not a private business.”