Connecticut becomes 10th state to allow high school student-athletes to profit off of their NIL
Connecticut has now become the 10th state to allow for high school student-athletes to profit off of their name, image, and likeness.
The Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference (CIAC) Board of Control approved new language in its Amateur Athletic Guidelines that now allows high school athletes to monetize their NIL, according to Braly Keller with Opendorse who first reported it last week.
The CIAC’s Executive Director, Glenn Lungarini, told CT Insider that the change was “passed for immediate implementation on a provisional basis” this past winter but has now been approved to be “fully implemented” into CIAC policy.
The updated policy allows student-athletes to participate in commercial endorsements, promotional activities, social media appearances, and products or service endorsements. Students may also hire an agent or lawyer to help them with NIL-related endeavors.
Received word this week that the @ciacsports Board approved a proposed language change to include NIL in their Amateur Athletic Guidelines.
— Braly Keller (@BralyKeller) June 3, 2022
In other words, Connecticut just became the 10th state to allow high school athletes the ability to monetize their NIL. pic.twitter.com/yUIkuFWo2g
Similar to some states that have passed NIL rules at the high school level, Connecticut student-athletes cannot use the school’s name or logo and the school’s faculty are not allowed to be engaged in the student’s NIL activities, unless in which they are enforcing CIAC policy.
There are also some restrictions on the type of endorsement athletes can receive, including all promotional activity relating to adult entertainment, tobacco, cannabis, controlled substances, and weapons and gambling.
What’s next?
While student-athletes may get excited and want to sprint out the gate to sign new NIL opportunities, it is important that coaches and parents help guide them carefully. Some things to consider include:
- Does the NIL deal a student-athlete is interested in abide by the CIAC’s Amateur Athletic guidelines?
- How do the deals impact where a student-athlete may want to play in college and/or their future goals. Does the NIL deal with those goals?
Our team at Eccker Sports knows this journey can be an intimidating one for everyone involved in a student-athlete’s life. We encourage coaches, parents, administrators and student-athletes to take our NIL Playbook Course which walk you step-by-step through the information you need to know about NIL in high school and college. Coach Assist helps coaches learn how to effectively communicate their NIL knowledge to student-athletes and their families. Finally, the Resource Hub will help you stay up-to-date on NIL policies in your state so you can guide, inform and protect your student-athletes on their NIL journey.
Prepare yourself today!
