TSSAA, Tennessee High Schools now allow NIL deals for high school students.
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Great…. What could go wrong
Are high schools going to be allowed to set up collectives the way colleges have done? It's really hard to see that there would be that many payments, but what do I know?
Are HS students currently not allowed to give lessons? That's one of the things they said was changing. Where I am, the HS team members get paid a small amount for helping with the HS's summer baseball camp.
Here is the list of other states that allow some form of NIL (at least on the list I just found).
- Alaska
- California
- Colorado
- Connecticut
- District of Columbia (D.C.)
- Idaho
- Iowa
- Kansas
- Louisiana
- Maine
- Massachusetts
- Minnesota
- Nebraska
- Nevada (limited, see below)
- North Dakota
- New Jersey
- New York
- Oregon
- Rhode Island
- Utah
Let me answer each independently. That list is those who have NIL laws but that mostly all cover college NIL deals.
In most states, no HS athlete can benefit from their athletic ability. If a student/athlete is paid any amount they lose their amateur status. I wonder how the NCAA will see this because one of the questions when my son filled out his eligibility status they asked if he had ever been paid for any athletic knowledge. So, if your school is paying their players to run a camp, they may be causing them to lose their amateur status.
Here is where it was found and the additional information. If a link to this site is not allowed let me know and I will delete.
https://businessofcollegesports.com/high-school-nil/
If I provided inaccurate information I apologize.
Thank you. It seems that most of them do not allow you to do anything that you are participating in within the school. So they would be sports that you are not playing in school or for many that schools do not offer. I don't know what those would be.
Add Pennsylvania to the list.
I don’t understand, what does this mean? Hs students can get paid?
A girl playing basketball at my son's alma mater has deals with Dick's, Spaulding and makes bank off of social media. High six figures PER YEAR in NIL money. She's a scholarship kid so I'd say high school has paid for itself already.
Unsurprisingly this is a big part of the school's recruiting pitch to girls across the nation.
I suspect NIL will help the rich stay richer at the HS level and kids in many sports will seek out the programs that are associated with big NIL contracts.
@PitchingFan posted:Thank you. It seems that most of them do not allow you to do anything that you are participating in within the school. So they would be sports that you are not playing in school or for many that schools do not offer. I don't know what those would be.
California is the Wild West of NIL - the only restriction is that you can't use the school name or trademarks. A boon to the legal and consulting industries here since kids will need both representation in contract negotiations and also advisors on social media, PR and brand management. I wish I were kidding but this is happening today up and down the state.
There is a 2024 player from Louisiana that plays in the same organization that my son did and he already has several NIL deals. He has had some hype built up around him and he took advantage of it.
My oldest son, who is a HS varsity basketball coach, said several coaches were talking yesterday and they are afraid the next thing coming is the one transfer rule like college. It is tough enough to coach HS kids now because you put so much time in them and then they leave for another school, even though, in most states they either have to lie about moving or they sit out a year and only play JV. Every HS coach I talk to at somewhat successful programs is if you piss the kid off or his parents they will move. One coach didn't start one the other day, but he still played 20 minutes and was allowed to put up 26 shots with only 3 going in and he transferred the next day. Went from starting or first off the bench at one school to playing JV at another school. I don't get it with parents. If they get the one transfer rule, I know a lot of coaches who will quit. They can make a lot more money teaching lessons and coaching travel ball in all sports. I know one guy who makes more money a week during off season doing lessons than he does the entire season as a HC at a HS.
For the vast majority of players & parents hype is rat poison. All it does is create unrealistic expectations. Which inevitably leads to disappointment. IMO most players benefit (from a playing standpoint) from less hype instead of more. Hype creates unnecessary pressure to perform that most teenagers don’t handle well. That’s why I have a problem with all the social media hype that “scouting services” create in the guise of “promoting” a young player. What they really are doing is building their brands off the back of unsuspecting players who like the hype. But don’t understand the downside of it. I’m sure there will be some that can navigate these waters, profit monetarily, and have great college/pro careers. But I would bet a tidy sum that there will be more train wrecks than success stories.
I would be fine with NIL if they just said you can now teach lessons and make a little realistic money. But when you get into the false NIL deals that are going to come from it, like college, it will be a complete trainwreck. You will have some kid who will get paid $1,000s to teach a fake kid lessons to be at a certain HS. There is really little anyone can do about it. It would be so hard to prove.
My 2024 was offered a little NIL deal last summer if he were to promote some swag on Instagram, but his recruiting advisor suggested that he not do it until after he has his NLI signed with a college. I guess it would send the wrong message to college coaches if a teenager that is not old enough to drive appeared to make his social media promotions his first priority.
So, for some of you guys who's sons have gone to college in the past 2 years. When my son filled out his eligibility requirement form for NCAA, it asked if he had ever been paid for his sports knowledge or paid to play. My understanding at the time was that prevented you from being eligible under NCAA. Did the NIL deals in NCAA rewrite those amateur status rules also?
@PitchingFan posted:My oldest son, who is a HS varsity basketball coach, said several coaches were talking yesterday and they are afraid the next thing coming is the one transfer rule like college. It is tough enough to coach HS kids now because you put so much time in them and then they leave for another school, even though, in most states they either have to lie about moving or they sit out a year and only play JV. Every HS coach I talk to at somewhat successful programs is if you piss the kid off or his parents they will move. One coach didn't start one the other day, but he still played 20 minutes and was allowed to put up 26 shots with only 3 going in and he transferred the next day. Went from starting or first off the bench at one school to playing JV at another school. I don't get it with parents. If they get the one transfer rule, I know a lot of coaches who will quit. They can make a lot more money teaching lessons and coaching travel ball in all sports. I know one guy who makes more money a week during off season doing lessons than he does the entire season as a HC at a HS.
A parent at our high school was pissed his son didn't make varsity basketball soph year. Thinking his kid was a stud he moved into the district of the conference powerhouse program so he could show up the previous coach. The kid didn't make varsity junior year while the previous school won the conference. The"stud" came off the bench senior year. It's where his basketball career ended. In 8th grade dad was talking NBA.
I coached rec and travel basketball from 7/8 kiddie rec through 14u travel. I explained to parents by high school all the kids 6'3 and under will be competing for three or four point and off guard rotation sports while kids they didn't see as talented when they were younger will end up 6'5" to 6'7" and play because of their height, strength and late acquired agility. I saw a lot of younger HORSE and Knockout shooting stars where it was obvious they didn't have the quickness, foot speed or agility to play by high school.