On Tuesday, the Michigan High School Athletic Association took a major step forward in the ever-changing landscape of sports.
The MHSAA’s representative council has formally signed off on a new “personal branding activities” policy. Their version of what most folks know as name, image, and likeness (NIL) at the collegiate level, student-athletes effective immediately will be permitted to benefit from more individual opportunities.“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 said in an MHSAA press release on Tuesday. “This rule change provides those while excluding the possibility of collectives, and boosters and school people getting involved in those activities.”
The news is something of an expansion of sorts for the MHSAA, which previously allowed athletes to receive benefits and compensation through activities like camps and clinics. It comes after the state of Michigan previously amended a law that allowed for the use of NIL with student-athletes back in October of 2023.
Now, the PBA policy allows for additional individual opportunities, including things such as autograph signings, photo sessions, apparel sales, product endorsements, and even acting as a social media influencer.
“This is the essence of what NIL was supposed to allow in the first place,” Uyl said. “We’re confident we’ve crafted language that allows true NIL opportunities without affecting competitive equity among our member schools.”
With the new policy does come some guardrails for interested parties.
Student-athletes are not permitted to use name, logos, mascots, trademarks, or other obvious identifiers of the MHSAA or any MHSAA member school. Additionally, they are also not to receive any sort of PBA benefits from their athletic performances or any awards received during a given sports season.
Certain products and services that may deemed inappropriate — including gambling, alcohol, and banned substances — are also prohibited for student-athletes to expore PBA opportunities in.
MHSAA member schools as well as coaches are also subject to this rule.
Any PBA activity cannot take place during school hours or at an MHSAA sporting event, nor can student-athletes be promoted by the schools themselves. Coaches and other school staff are also not allowed to arrange or negotiate for such opportunities for student-athletes.
The MHSAA further reinforces that the expanded policy is not a “pay to play” system and it is designed for what its student-athletes do outside of both school and athletics.
“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.”
While it has its own blanket policy, the MHSAA says that all of its member schools do have discretion in enforcing even stricter PBA rules. Any and all PBA activities are required to be disclosed to the MHSAA at least seven days prior to the student-athlete formally accepting such an opportunity.
For more information and resources on the PBA policy, as well as where to acquire a disclosure form, visit the Name, Image, Likeness section on the MHSAA official website.
