The Michigan High School Athletic Association this week voted to allow high school student-athletes to profit from name, image and likeness. Under MHSAA, this is known as an expansion of personal branding activities (PBA).
According to MHSAA, the new NIL rules in Michigan will not allow high school students to pursue group opportunities or work with collectives — as is commonly seen in the collegiate athletics space — but individual students may pursue individual deals. The governing body has been discussing various NIL policies since 2023, when state legislators first floated the idea of amending state laws to allow student-athletes to profit in this way.
“We have said from the start of this conversation that the MHSAA could be comfortable with a policy that provides individual branding opportunities for individual student-athletes, and this rule change provides those while excluding the possibility of collectives, and boosters and school people getting involved in those activities,” MHSAA executive director Mark Uyl said. “This is the essence of what NIL was supposed to allow in the first place, and we’re confident we’ve crafted language that allows true NIL opportunities without affecting competitive equity among our member schools.”
Individual opportunities for students may include social media deals, personal appearances for autographs or photo sessions, apparel, sports cards or the use of the student’s image in a business’s marketing materials.
Under the new framework, any NIL deal pursued by a Michigan high school student-athlete must be submitted to MHSAA within seven days of contract signing for approval. It will also be left to the discretion of individual high schools to enforce more strict policies as they see fit.
“The MHSAA will guard the competitive equity we have promoted for more than 100 years, and take with the utmost seriousness any attempts to break or blur this rule,” Uyl said. “We have provided clear language and sufficient guidance on what is allowed to assist our schools as they navigate this ever-changing landscape.”
