Policy Pulse - North Carolina Edition
Dr. Scott Grant, CAA
Chair of Education Graduate & Advanced Licensure Programs | HS Name, Image, & Likeness EDUCATOR | CEO of TripleThreatLeadership.com & NIL-Education.com | TedX Speaker, Coach, Former D1 Athletics Ops & Leadership Director
I’m going to be honest, this edition was a tough one to write as there has been so much tragedy and hardship happening in North Carolina from the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, that I struggled through it.
Just this morning I saw pictures posted of the Pisgah High School athletic facilities, and it took my breath away. I’m sure you’ve been watching what’s going on, but if not, take some quick reads as it puts things into perspective real quick. (not just from an athletic standpoint, but life in general).
But, with all that being said, North Carolina made the news in the high school NIL environment as it is in the process of becoming (still a little unclear on exact timing) the first state to have NIL permitted for member schools within their state athletic association, the North Carolina High School Athletic Association (NCHSAA), due to a lawsuit by a student-athlete / family.
The Lawsuit - A little background…
In August, the mother of Faizon Brandon, the top ranked prep football player in the state of North Carolina, and also a University of Tennessee 2026 recruit, filed a lawsuit on behalf of her son in the Wake County Superior Court, challenging the North Carolina State Board of Education (BOE) and the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction’s NIL prohibitions that currently ban NCHSAA member schools from earning NIL monetization during high school.
Now you may be asking,
Scott, I thought high school student-athletes in North Carolina could already monetize their NIL?
And you’d be right, kind of.
Hang on for this explanation…
In May of 2023, the NCHSAA passed guidelines that would have allowed student-athletes to begin monetizing their NIL in July of that same year.
However, when SB 452 was passed in October 2023, it included changes to the authority of the NCHSAA to govern high school sports meant it could not implement the NIL policy.
In essence, the NCHSAA lost quite a bit of it’s power in high school sports governance.
Crazy right, well hold on, it gets crazier.
Back in February, the North Carolina Independent Schools Athletic Association approved an NIL policy for their member school student-athletes that went into affect at the start of the 2024-25 season.
This is interesting because many people don’t realize that not all schools are governed by one high school state athletic association.
Some states have two (Florida).
Some states separate their independent / private from public.
Some independent / private schools have their own associations which don’t have NIL policies, but, because they participate against public school association members, they have to sign a competition waiver agreeing to their amateurism policies (which often includes NIL).
And in some cases, there are schools that aren’t part of any association, and govern themselves completely separate with other schools from many states.
So - when people say -
Oh, NIL is allowed for high school students in _____________________, that sometimes carries with it a big * (asterisk).
And to be honest, that’s primarily one of the reasons why I even started writing this Policy Pulse newsletter!
OK - now back to the Lawsuit…
On October 1st, the AP News reported on the story stating;
“On April 30, 2024, Brandon received the NIL offer that is at the center of the lawsuit. According to the complaint, “a prominent national trading card company” offered Brandon a deal to sign memorabilia before he graduated from high school—an agreement that would provide Brandon and his family with “financial security for years to come.” The deal would allow Brandon to monetize his NIL until his projected high school graduation date in December 2025.”
The High School “trading card” phenomena of NIL activity has been increasing a bit lately it seems, and has caused some stir in regards to equity among opportunities in numerous states, not just North Carolina.
For example in July, Trent Seaborn, the star quarterback (and current sophomore) on the Thompson High School Football Team in Alabama, was reportedly offered a 7-figure NIL opportunity with a trading card company. Because he lives in the state of Alabama where NIL for high school student-athletes is prohibited, he turned down the opportunity to remain at his school, playing for his coach.
You can see his response that was outlined in the article by al.com:
“He said there was no way he would leave coach Mark (Freeman) and that program, his brothers, the team he’s so close with.”
But, in comparison, Peyton Houston, a freshman quarterback from Evangel Christian Academy in Louisiana was free to sign an NIL deal with LEAF trading cards that is reportedly for “life changing” compensation.
Again, I’m not here to judge any of this.
I’m not here to persuade you to believe NIL activity at the high school level is either good, or bad.
I’m here to help you understand the intricacies, unique elements, and policies of NIL activity within the high school educational athletics based environment.
And to bring a long story, short…
Faizon Brandon’s lawsuit received a ruling in his favor as a Wake County Judge ruled that the current prohibition of NIL violated state law, and has ordered that the
“current NIL prohibition be replaced with the State Board of Education’s proposed 2025-26 academic year NIL regulations. The judge has ordered that this change become effective IMMEDIATELY upon the judicial signature of a written order, which is expected within the following weeks” (Henderson, 2024)
You can read more about this in the recent article by sports illustrated at the link below:
The following question now begins to circulate when discussing the 11 state associations that still prohibit NIL activity at the High School level…
Will we see a lawsuit from a student-athlete move the authority and power away from the state associations governance / bylaw approval process, and shift to an immediate implementation of NIL activity permittance.
I don’t know, but, if I was a betting man, I’d assume there are some student-athletes and their families watching this play out, and considering their potential next steps in those states.
Nevertheless, let’s get back to the nuts and bolts of the “new” North Carolina High School Association Member School student-athlete NIL policy regulations.
You can also read it for yourself here:
There are a few unique elements within this policy when comparing it to the other 39 state association policies throughout the country, and much of that comes down to specific wording, and in my mind, how that will be enforced and interpreted.
And before we jump in - just a reminder again, for any student who is under the age of 18, NIL agreements require the student’s parent or legal guardian to be a party to the agreement.
Now on to number #1:
1. The NIL agreement shall not condition the receipt, type, or extent of any compensation to the student on the extent or quality of the student’s athletic performance.
I’ve honestly never seen the words “extent or quality of the student’s athletic performance,” and to be honest, it’s just a legalese way of saying - it can’t be contingent on athletic performance or participation.
As I always tell everyone when discussing High School NIL activities, it must remain separate from athletics.
And if you really want to argue about it from an inception standpoint, permitting NIL had nothing to do with athletics, but rather, allowing student athletes the same opporunities for marketability, entrepreneurial activities, and monetization of the individual name, image, and likeness as were allowed other students. (but we aren’t going back to dive down that rabbit hole).
2. Prior to a student’s entry into an NIL agreement:
Alright - let’s stop there for a moment.
I get it, I really do.
Disclosures are common, but, there isn’t a single other state that requires that many school employees to be “touching” or “in possession” of an external NIL agreement between a student and a business. As a coach myself, I would be a little leery of handling anything with that type of information on it, or having it shared with that many people.
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The school board? Why?
The administration, I get it. But, at the same time, most disclosures just require specific information, not a copy of the agreement.
And when they require it to be done before the entry into the NIL agreement, does that mean they’re asking the school to advise on it?
If so - absolutely not.
That just makes me a little nervous.
Well - actually a lot nervous.
They’re not lawyers, and they shouldn’t be advising on that.
3. The student shall complete the NIL education course offered by the NFHS. If the student is under 18 years of age, then the parents or legal guardians must complete the course. Those persons required to complete the course shall provide the relevant administering organization with the certificate of completion from the NFHS.
So now we’re on to 2 things schools must college prior to any NIL activity taking place.
A copy of the contract. (and a reminder again - a copy of the NIL agreement to most likely 5 different school employees)
And now a certificate of completion of an NFHS course by the student and parents / guardians.
While many people might say…
“Well honestly, how many kids will actually be impacted by this?”
To which I would say…
“Let’s hope not too many, because that’s a lot of paperwork and processes that need to be in place on an already full plate of people.”
It’s just a lot to prepare for, whether it happens a lot or not.
You can’t not prepare for it.
4. No student shall endorse or promote the goods or services of any third-party entity with which the student has entered an NIL agreement during interscholastic athletic competition or other school-based activities or events. This restriction applies to the wearing of apparel displaying the mark, logo, brand, or other identifying insignia of the third party, unless it is part of the standard uniform for the school or sport.
So let’s be honest on this one for a minute.
This is hard to truly interpret and enforce (although it probably shouldn’t be).
Example:
Jimmy the High School Baseball player signs an NIL agreement with a sliding glove company.
Jimmy receives free sliding gloves in exchange for social media / promotional posts about the sliding glove company.
(and just a reminder - no posts an include anything about their school, school ip, etc.).
Jimmy wears the sliding glove at practice, as well as in games when playing for his high school.
Is that a violation?
Well, let’s read it again:
“No student shall endorse or promote the goods or services of any third-party entity with which the student has entered an NIL agreement during interscholastic athletic competition or other school-based activities or events. This restriction applies to the wearing of apparel displaying the mark, logo, brand, or other identifying insignia of the third party, unless it is part of the standard uniform for the school or sport.”
Is a sliding glove part of the standard uniform for the school or sport?
I don’t think I’d fight that battle, but some might. I did see a 7 year old using one this past year in kid pitch. (that’s for another newsletter).
Exchange sliding glove for a lot of other products.
Then the question goes to - who is enforcing it?
And this is why EDUCATION of specific state policies is SO IMPORTANT!!
Student-athletes, coaches, parents, school stakeholders have to understand the NIL regulations, and must be educated line by line to ensure proper interpretations, enforcement, violation consequences, etc.
State associations need to provide that to AD’s in many ways, (print / presentations / emails / updates / case study examples) and many, many times.
The last thing anyone wants is a student-athlete violating the rules because they didn’t know.
And believe me, it’s happened in numerous states.
Any while there are other intricacies within the NC policy, one of the last elements
…requires the school athletic director to submit a current copy of any NIL agreement involving a student at the school to any administering organizations of which the student’s school is a member within 30- days of the disclosure of the NIL agreement by the student or disclosure of any amendment of an existing NIL agreement.
As a former AD, I’m just thinking to myself…
“That’s a lot of stuff that is falling on the AD before the NIL agreement takes place, after the NIL agreement is moving forward, and during the life of the NIL agreement if anything changes…. I don’t have time for that, and I don’t want to be responsible for that.”
I realize that High School AD’s handle so much paperwork.
Transfers, eligibility, physicals, etc… many people will say, “well it’s part of the AD’s job, so they need to deal with it.”
And for most of it, yes.
But this is a concern.
If a state association moves forward in this realm, then they need to have the appropriate processes, education, and clarity of support prepared and ready for all of their AD’s, so that this isn’t a contributor to the already quick turnover in the profession.
State associations need to be proactive in:
High School NIL is different… it just is, and it has to be handled with care.
I honestly could keep diving into the policy further, but, no matter where you live, the circumstances that have lead to NIL movement forward in North Carolina may seem unique, but hopefully this will help you consider your state’s policy, or lack thereof, a little deeper.
And most importantly, continued prayers for safety, recovery, and rebuilding to all those in North Carolina, and the numerous other states affected by Hurricane Helene.
Another state, another High School NIL policy coming soon.
Always here to help!
- Doc G
[email protected] | 419.306.3002
****Need help understanding High School NIL --- Download our NIL Prep Kit, the #1 resource for supporting high school stakeholders in understanding this new normal in high school athletics.
Dr. Scott Grant, or “Doc G” as his students call him, is former high school teacher, coach, and athletic director turned college professor in educational leadership / social media / branding, and founded Triple Threat Leadership, LLC. (www.triplethreatleadership.com) & NIL-Education (www.nil-education.com).
Email / call him at ---> [email protected] | 419.306.3002
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