Pennsylvania becomes 22nd state to allow NIL on high school level

Twenty-two of the state high school athletic associations in the country now allow student-athletes to participate in NIL activities without losing eligibility.

The number reached 22 on Wednesday after the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association board of directors passed an amendment to the organization’s rulebook allowing NIL deals for high school athletes, with some parameters.

The changes go into effect immediately, according to the PIAA.

The amendment allows student-athletes to obtain commercial endorsements and earn money from promotional activities, including a social media presence. However, no one affiliated with the high school or employed by the school may arrange for NIL deals or pay players.

Student-athletes can’t reference the PIAA or any member school, team or team nickname in NIL ads. Additionally, they may not promote third-party entities or goods during team or school activities. They also can’t wear or display a company logo or insignia from a NIL deal during team activities, unless that logo or insignia is part of the team uniform. NIL deals must also be reported to the school’s administration.

The proposed policy mirrors more than 20 other states across the country where NIL is allowed for high school student-athletes.

Pennsylvania has been pushing toward allowing NIL

The momentum for NIL has been in Pennsylvania has been coming for quite some time.

The plan originally passed the first reading with the board of directors in July.  Directors then unanimously passed the amendment on the second reading in early October. Early on, PIAA leaders said they needed to get ahead of the curve to ensure there are some guardrails in place while also helping educate student-athletes.

“We really need to probably get ahead of this and address it and put some parameters in place to guide students and their families so that they’re educated and they know what they’re getting into,” PIAA Assistant Executive Director Melissa Mertz said earlier this summer.

Dan Greene, a NIL expert and associate attorney at Newman & Lickstein in Syracuse, N.Y., commended the PIAA for making the move.

“The PIAA clearly took their time considering the NIL issue,” Greene said. “They monitored the situations in neighboring states, like New York and New Jersey, who have permitted their high school athletes to engage in NIL for a while now and received input from colleges in their state.

“After all of this due diligence, this governing body approved this new guidance every step of the way – three times in fact.”

Greene said the move by the PIAA should signal that NIL isn’t a bad thing to the other high school athletic associations that have yet to approve it.

“Over the last year, we’ve seen that high school NIL has not ‘blown up’ high school athletics, which is something the PIAA board of directors probably recognized,” Greene said. “Hopefully other high school athletic associations around the country will realize as well.”

Where is NIL allowed for high schoolers?

After the PIAA’s decision, there are now 22 high school activity associations across the country that allow their student-athletes to participate in NIL without losing eligibility.

On3 High School NIL Rules

Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, the District of Columbia, Oregon, Oklahoma, Colorado, Iowa, Idaho, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Dakota, Washington and Utah all changed their bylaws in 2022 to allow NIL on the high school level. It’s also allowed in Alaska, California, Connecticut, Kansas, Nebraska, New Jersey and New York.

Plus, officials in Nevada and Illinois are also having serious discussions about revising their current NIL regulations on the high school level.

The Illinois High School Association member schools began voting Monday to decide if the state will join the others that have allowed NIL.

Member schools have until Dec. 18 to vote with the results posted the next day. The IHSA has already given its blessing to at least one deal for a Chicago-area girls basketball player without having a policy in place.

Yet, there are still plenty of state associations that have yet to make a move toward allowing NIL on the high school level, namely football powerhouse states like Florida, Georgia and Texas.