Michigan high school student-athletes can now take part in expanded Name, Image and Likeness opportunities following action this week by the Michigan High School Athletic Association’s Representative Council.
The council approved an immediate expansion of what the MHSAA calls personal branding activities, allowing students at member schools to pursue additional individual commercial opportunities while maintaining restrictions aimed at preserving competitive balance among schools.
Under the updated policy, student-athletes may engage in activities such as social media endorsements, personal appearances, autograph signings, photo sessions, modeling, advertising, merchandise and apparel sales, sports cards and other uses of their name, image or likeness in marketing materials. Previously, students were permitted to conduct camps, clinics and private lessons.
MHSAA leaders said the rule change is designed to permit individual branding while barring group-based arrangements such as collectives or other pay-for-play models that have become common at the collegiate level.
“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.” — MHSAA Executive Director Mark Uyl.
Uyl added that the association crafted the language to allow NIL opportunities “without affecting competitive equity among our member schools.”
The issue has been under review for three years through meetings with school administrators and MHSAA membership. The council also considered a 2023 proposal in the Michigan Legislature to amend state law to allow student-athletes’ use of NIL and monitored similar policies in neighboring states.
The policy includes several guardrails. Student-athletes may not receive compensation tied to athletic performance, awards, team participation or game outcomes. School names, logos, mascots, uniforms or other intellectual property cannot be used in personal branding activities. Such activities also may not occur during school hours, at MHSAA events or practices, on school property, or be promoted through school media channels.
Schools, coaches and employees are prohibited from soliciting, arranging or promoting NIL deals for students. Violations could jeopardize a school’s MHSAA membership and a student’s athletic eligibility.
The MHSAA also bars NIL activities connected to products or industries it deems inappropriate or unsafe for interscholastic athletics, including gambling, alcoholic beverages and banned substances.
All NIL activities must be disclosed to the MHSAA within seven days of an opportunity or contract for review and approval. Individual schools may adopt stricter local rules.
The Representative Council serves as the MHSAA’s legislative body. The association represents more than 1,500 public and private schools and operates as a private, not-for-profit organization.
