STEVENS POINT, Wis. — High school athletes in Wisconsin will now be allowed to profit off their name, image and likeness by entering into advertising and brand deals, the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association decided on Friday.
In a 293-108 vote, members of WIAA member schools approved an NIL provision at the organization’s annual meeting in Stevens Point. The provision allows high school athletes to enter into NIL deals, so long as they don’t wear their team uniform or use school or WIAA logos in an advertisement.
WIAA athletes will also not be allowed to enter into NIL deals promoting alcohol, tobacco, marijuana, or weapons. The NIL changes are expected to take effect in May.
“I think it’s great,” Josh Bazey, activities director for Luck School District, said. “I don’t think you’ll see much of an effect on our high schools.”
Athletic directors emphasized just how few students will likely benefit from the NIL provision.
“I think it’s not going to affect kids as much as they think. It is going to allow our really big-name athletes some really cool opportunities,” St. Croix Falls High School Athletic Director Tara Rose said.
“They say 1% of student athletes overall will really be involved in this,” Mary Schradle-Mau, activity director at Turtle Lake High School, said.
At least 40 states currently allow high school students to profit off their NIL, either through legislation or state athletic association rules, according to the Business of College Sports.
WIAA members rejected a similar NIL proposal last year in a 219-170 vote. This time around, athletic directors said they had more time to learn about the proposal and that they passed it in part because they worried the Wisconsin Legislature might create NIL rules if the WIAA did not.
“It’s coming down whether we like it or not,” Bazey said.
“We as a administration and as a organization have felt pressure from lawmakers to support this, and if we didn’t support it, we felt that lawmakers in Wisconsin would vote it anyways,” Rose said.
“This is something that we want our membership to have control over rather than have it legislated to us by the state,” Schradle-Mau said.
NIL and player compensation have also taken center stage at the college level as the NCAA navigates a legal settlement that would allow colleges to pay their athletes directly.
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