Athletes in Pennsylvania might soon be able to monetize their athletic skills, even while they are still in high school.
After the U.S. Supreme Court case, Alston v. NCAA, The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) was forced to change its policy which for years had prohibited student-athletes from their monetizing their names, images and likeness (NIL).
CityandStatePA, wrote – “Now, the NIL market, which is growing rapidly at the collegiate level, is set to trickle down to high school sports. While the vast majority of student-athletes won’t get deals worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, many could still benefit from smaller deals with local companies.”
According to KDKA, “The PIAA (Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association) board approved its NIL proposal on a second reading Tuesday concerning using athletes and high schools in advertising and endorsements. Colleges recently began allowing the name, image and likeness deals with athletes. It allows them to make money through agreements with everything from car dealerships, restaurants, investment firms and with large companies like Nike. While it isn’t expected that many athletes locally will ink big deals, agreements with local businesses like restaurants are possible.”
City and State reported that Melissa N. Mertz, associate executive director at the PIAA, said the biggest aspect of the high school policy is to separate the student-athlete from the school, meaning the athlete can’t be in uniform, show their school’s logo or any association as part of an advertisement or sponsorship. And while Mertz argued this restriction is key to limiting transfers, boosting recruitment, and keeping high school sports “pay for play” rather than “pay to play,” Ross said it would get the PIAA into tricky legal territory related to antitrust laws.