INDIANAPOLIS (WRTV) — A state lawmaker on Thursday said Indiana needs guardrails in place as high school athletes begin to monetize their image.
House Speaker Todd Huston and Senate President pro tempore Rod Bray, both Republicans, announced hearings will be held later this year on name, image and likeness, or NIL, rules for high school athletes as part of the General Assembly's summer study committees.
Rep. Alex Burton, D-Evansville, said he requested those hearings after a floor amendment he introduced on NIL rules during this year's legislative session generated enough discussion; he felt further investigation was needed.
"We really need to focus in on making sure that we get a handle on high school athletic transfers," he said. "We need to make sure that we are also prioritizing high school education and making sure that we are preparing our athletes for collegiate success."
The IHSAA on May 4 announced it had adopted rules to allow high school athletes to monetize their personal brand, subject to several restrictions.
First and foremost, athletes are not permitted to represent their school or perform athletic services. Second, students may not take part in any branding collectives. Third, brand recruiting activities to entice a student to attend a particular high school are prohibited.
To underscore the differences from college-style NIL rules, the IHSAA instead uses the term "personal branding activities." Approved activities include developing and monetizing one's brand through social media, personal appearances and endorsements unrelated to their school athletic participation. Student athletes also may provide personal training or youth coaching services for reasonable compensation.
The vast majority of states now allow some form of NIL for high school athletes. Burton said his biggest concerns are making sure academics still come first and ensuring lower-income schools don't get put at a disadvantage to wealthier schools. He said he's open to discussions on how to allow schools to take part in NIL in a limited way. Burton said capping NIL money might be one way to do that.
"Whether we want to admit it or not, it's here. It's not going away, and the worst thing we can do is ignore it at the high school level and send our athletes into the college setting not prepared, getting access to a lot of money and not having the financial literacy to sustain that," he said.
The IHSAA did not respond to a request for comment on the hearings.
No schedules have yet been set for this year's study committee hearings. Any possible resulting legislation would have to wait until the next legislative session, which begins in January.
