NIL Library / NIL-006
Indiana High School NIL: Read the Rule, Not the Headline
A state just legalized high school NIL, and the very first thing the new rule lists as a way to earn is the athlete's own social media presence. I work with young athletes, so here is my honest take: the headline says "kids can get paid now," but the rule itself is quietly telling families something far more useful, and most people scroll right past it.
On May 4, 2026, On3 and WBIW reported that the Indiana High School Athletic Association board voted to allow high school athletes to profit from their name, image, and likeness starting with the 2026-27 school year. The vote passed 13 to 5. The association is calling it Personal Branding Activities, or PBA. If you live in Indiana, this is your kid's new reality. If you do not, keep reading, because there is a detail near the end that applies to almost everyone.
What NIL is, in one paragraph
If the term is still fuzzy, NIL stands for name, image, and likeness. It is the right of an athlete to earn from their own brand: their name, their photos, their following. It became legal for college athletes in 2021, and it has flowed down to high school, where most states now allow it. The key word is "own." NIL is not the school paying a kid to play. It is the athlete getting paid for who they are and the audience they have built.
What the rule actually allows
Here is where it pays to read past the headline. The Indiana rule lists how an athlete is allowed to earn, and the order is telling. First on the list is the athlete's personal social media presence. Then endorsements, appearances, and non-athletic services such as tutoring or coaching younger kids. The state put the kid's own audience at the top of the list of things they can build a deal around.
What the rule does not allow
What is left off the list does just as much work. Athletes cannot use school uniforms, logos, or school affiliation in any of these activities. No deals tied to a school team, facility, or program. No arrangements facilitated by coaches or school personnel. Deals also cannot involve products like gambling, alcohol, or banned substances, and cannot be used to recruit an athlete to another high school. Read those two lists side by side and the line the state drew is obvious. The thing your kid gets to build a deal around is not the school's brand. It is their own.
The commissioner said the quiet part out loud
IHSAA Commissioner Paul Neidig framed it plainly. He said the rule keeps high schools out of arranging or funding deals, and that "it allows students to benefit independently from their school, without using school branding or representing school-sponsored endorsements." Then he said the line I want every parent to sit with: "We believe it is far better to be proactive and create thoughtful, education-based guidelines than to have policies forced upon high school athletics."
That is a sentence about a state association, but it is just as true for a family. Being proactive instead of reactive is the entire game. The families who do well with NIL are the ones who got ahead of it, not the ones scrambling after a deal already showed up in the DMs.
The detail for everyone outside Indiana
Here is the part that matters even if you have never set foot in Indiana. When this rule takes effect, Indiana becomes the 46th state to allow high school NIL, along with the District of Columbia. Only four states will still ban it entirely: Alabama, Wyoming, Hawaii, and Mississippi. So unless you live in one of those, this is not a someday issue. It is already the rule where you live. The conversation is not coming. It is here.
What this means for your athlete
Here is the shift I want every parent to make. Do not think of NIL as a deal that might happen someday. Think of your kid's name, image, and following as a brand that exists right now, before a single dollar shows up.
The rule itself told you where the value lives. The school can take its logo back. A coach cannot be part of the deal. What is left, the part the state says your athlete can actually build on, is their own name and their own audience. So the real question is not whether your kid will get a deal. It is whether your kid has anything of their own for a deal to attach to yet.
You do not need an agent in ninth grade. You need a foundation: clean photos, a real story, consistency, and an adult in the room who reads before anyone signs. Build the brand and protect it early, so that when the rule change becomes a real opportunity, the one thing that is truly your athlete's stays theirs.
Sources: On3 (May 4, 2026); WBIW News (May 5, 2026). This is education and observation, not legal or financial advice.
Source: On3