4 NIL "Must-Haves" for High School Athletes
Changing policies to permit high school athletes to participate in NIL is happening faster than students, parents, coaches, and administrators are being educated - and that's a problem.
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In less than 3 years, nearly 2/3rds high of the country has undergone change by way of state legislators or high school athletic associations to permit high school athletes to participate in NIL. That total will soon grow with the key states of Michigan and Florida on the brink of changing their policies to allow name, image, and likeness for high schoolers.
None of this has been a surprise given the public support to allow high school athletes to exercise their right of publicity. According to a recent Washington Post / Povich Center for Sports Journalism at the University of Maryland Poll, 54% of adults support high school athletes earning money through NIL. (40% of those surveyed think youth athletes should be able to participate in NIL before high school.)
What has seemingly caught many people off-guard is the need for widespread NIL education for student-athletes, parents, coaches, and administrators.
If I’m being extraordinarily generous, I estimate that the total “reach” of NIL education into high schools is about 2%; that means…
Only about 112,000 of the 5.6 million high school student-athletes who are/will soon be permitted to participate in NIL have been provided NIL education
Coaches and administrators at less than 500 of the 20,000 high schools have received formal NIL training
And of course the NIL education problem will only grow as the remaining states that currently prohibit NIL change to permitting it.
With data from my NIL Research Poll (5,000 current college student-athletes + 1,000 high school prospects), evidence, and (my own) experience as an NIL educator, here are the 4 most essential elements of NIL education for the high school ecosystem.
1 > Safety
Because high school parents, coaches, administrators and athletes still equate NIL to “endorsements” (an ambiguous term that lacks the specific nature of the NIL activity), they fail to recognize how dominate a single type of NIL activity is: working as a social media content creator or “influencer.”
A social media influencer in the NIL context is defined as a student-athlete who promotes a brand, business, or non-profit on their social media accounts.
90% + of all high school NIL activity is influencer marketing.
Safety should be priority #1 when it comes to NIL education for high school athletes.
Parents, coaches, and administrators can play a role in implementing a social media safety plan for high school NIL, including:
Privacy Settings: Working with athletes to regularly review and adjust privacy settings on all social media platforms that athletes use. A goal is to limit the amount of their personal information visible to the public.
Passwords: Student-Athletes should set up strong, unique passwords for each social media account. Enable two-factor authentication should be used when available. (Password managers like LastPass should be used.)
Content: Student-Athletes should never share personal information such as home address, phone number, financial details, or their location.
Monitoring Followers: Parents, coaches, administrators and athletes should regularly review the student-athlete’s followers. Anyone who exhibits inappropriate behavior or makes them feel uncomfortable should be blocked or removed.
Legal Compliance: Student-Athletes need to familiarize themselves with the legal implications of their social content - respecting copyright laws and FTC guidelines for social media influencers.
Negative Feedback: Student-Athletes should be prepared for criticism and negative comments. Help them develop a strategy for dealing with online trolls and negativity - including shutting off comments.
2 > Eligibility
My next recommendation for high school NIL education for parents, coaches, administrators and athletes is to focus on maintaining the athlete’s eligibility.
High school athletes should never do an NIL activity that could jeopardize their eligibility.
Here are some of the most frequent mistakes that high school athletes are making:
Using intellectual property that they don’t own, such as using a picture of themselves in their high school uniform
Making a verbal reference to a school team or school in a post on TikTok or Instagram
Promoting a third-party during school-based team activities, including immediately after a game
Again, these are violations of the NIL policies in every state that allows high school NIL. And in most instances results in the student-athlete being deemed ineligible for interscholastic athletic competition.
There are no national standards or policies for high school NIL. Parents, coaches, administrators, and athletes should go to their state athletic association’s website to review NIL rules.
Note: I’m frequently asked about NIL and youth sports. As of now, I’m not aware of any national youth sports organization that has created their own NIL guidelines. These organizations have strict policies tied to the “amateur status” of participating athletes. Their definition of “amateur” usually includes language such as, “someone who plays solely for the physical, mental, and social benefits of the sport and cannot receive compensation related to athletic activity.” Parents, coaches, administrators, and athletes should contact their youth organization directly to understand the organization’s stance on NIL prior to participating in any NIL activity.
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