STEVENS POINT, Wis. (Civic Media) – A proposal to allow limited name, image, and likeness opportunities to Wisconsin high school student-athletes will be voted on by schools in the state on Wednesday.

The proposed amendment to the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association constitution would allow NIL opportunities for student-athletes in the state.

NIL deals for high school student-athletes are allowed in 33 states, not including Wisconsin, as of the end of 2023, according to data from the National Federation of State High School Associations. The WIAA’s proposed amendment  would affect the rules and eligibility of student-athletes, allowing them to make money based on their recognizability.

Some of the language changes to maintaining amateur status seem fairly obvious: Student-athletes can’t endorse products or activities in adult-targeted categories, such as gambling, alcohol, tobacco, or firearms. They also can’t be compensated based on their athletic performance, or “pay to play.”

If the amendment is passed, students can take NIL opportunities as long as there’s no association with their school, conference, team, or the WIAA. NIL opportunities are also restricted to certain categories; in general, NIL deals have to be age-appropriate.

WIAA Associate Director Mel Down said on the WisSports.net Podcast that those are some of the key differences between the college version of NIL and the high school version.

One of the status changes drawing concern from some administrators is a wide interpretation of a rule that would ban compensation from people associated with a school for the purpose of recruiting. The rule limits a number of people from compensating student-athletes, from alumni, staff, coaches, and booster clubs to anyone who is employed by a company or organization that has donated money, supplies, or equipment to the school.

Another item highlighted by one administrator as too vague was a requirement that compensation “is commensurate with market value.”

Dow said on the WisSports.net podcast that those concerns are valid, but that the number of student-athletes taking part in NIL will be a fraction of a percent, so there may not be widespread issues.

Most of the other restrictions are routine in NIL adoption language, such as NIL activities not interfering with academic or athletic commitments at their school. The proposed language would also not allow a student-athlete to have an NIL agent, and high school employees aren’t able to help make NIL deals.

The NFHS said that when NIL was approved, it was intended for college student-athletes. However, because the laws that apply to NIL are tied to state statutes, eligibility for NIL varies from state to state. In the past two years, 33 states have passed NIL guidance, including all but one of Wisconsin’s border states, Michigan, which is considering NIL as well as Wisconsin.

One of the major differences in NIL for high school and college students is that college students can receive direct benefits from their schools, while high school students can’t have any association with their high school teams or conferences.

In its area meetings last fall, the WIAA shared that 32 states at the time had approved NIL opportunities and seven more states were considering it. At the end of 2022, just 16 states had approved it, all within the first year and a half after NIL was approved for college student-athletes.

The proposed amendment reads:

An athlete forfeits amateur status in a sport by capitalizing on athletic fame by receiving money, compensation, endorsementsor gifts of monetary value in affiliation or connection with activities involving the student’s school team, school, Conference or WIAA (scholarships to institutions of higher learning are specifically exempted).

1. This provision is not intended to restrict the right of any student to participate in a commercial endorsement provided there is no school team, school, Conference or WIAA affiliation.

2. The student does not appear in the uniform of the student’s school and does not utilize the marks, logos, etc. of the school, Conference or WIAA as part of any endorsement.

Rules of Eligibility Article IV Section 1

A majority of Wisconsin school districts would need to vote to approve the amendment at April 24th’s Annual Meeting, which would go into effect in May. The WIAA Board of Control unanimously recommended and supported the amendment and changes to the amateur status language.

Here is the document about NIL that is being provided to WIAA member schools at the Annual Meeting: