High school athletes in Wisconsin may be able to profit from their name, image and likeness (NIL) as college athletes now do.

Prescott School District Activities & Athletics Director Andrew Caudill told the Prescott School Board at its meeting Wednesday, Oct. 18 that a vote among WIAA-member schools could happen in April 2024 to allow students to sign NIL deals.

He said most states around Wisconsin, including Minnesota, allow NIL deals.

“There are more states in the nation than not that allow high school athletes to profit,” said Caudill. “Wisconsin is starting to venture down the path of allowing name, image and likeness property for high school athletes.”

Under current WIAA bylaws, high school student athletes are not allowed to profit.

“If they do, their eligibility is lost completely,” he said. “We are starting to talk about possible changes that will allow language on a rule change. We are moving forward to approving the possibility of a vote of the membership in April 2024 to allow it.”

Caudill said athletes would be able to promote themselves, but not include their school, school logo or jersey in the promotions.

“What does that mean? It means an athlete can profit from being a basketball athlete but not a Prescott basketball athlete. They can wear a basketball jersey, but not a Prescott jersey. The district’s name, image and likeness cannot be used. The student is going to have to be able to profit off of their own name, image and likeness without being propped up by the school district,” said Caudill.

Also, other states have provisions in their rules that forbid deals to force students to transfer to school districts as part of a NIL deal.

“That student is ineligible permanently and would never be eligible again,” said Caudill.

He said that if WIAA grants approval, it can have a bigger impact on smaller school districts, where all student athletes are known and have a following, unlike bigger districts where only standout athletes get significant recognition.

“We have been notified or warned almost that at the small-town level ,things are going to impact everyone,” Caudill said. “Small towns have different relationship dynamics than larger communities. Every athlete is essentially a candidate.”

If the measure passes, Caudill said the district will work hard on educating students and parents.

“The biggest risks of families are going to be incompetent, ignorant and predatory third parties. One thing that we were also made sure to understand is that it’s not always intentional. In small towns, you have businesses that aren’t necessarily experienced in writing these kinds of contracts. It’s going to be important that families do their homework, do their research and ensure that any contract that they’re signing is in their best interest and not sign something that is going to do damages in the long-term,” said Caudill. “Coaches are going to be educated on what their roles and what they need to stay away from, and we also need to educate businesses so they understand what the rules are.”
Caudill said the district can incorporate policies around the NIL deals but can’t stop them from happening, if the WIAA approves the measure.

“This is a really new dynamic. It’s a rule change that really doesn’t impact us. It just allows people to do things outside of our control and our influence. That’s going to be uncomfortable at times. It’s going to be so new and frankly a little chaotic, especially at first,” Caudill said. “I do believe we’re going to go down this path. That’s why I’m coming to you now to start laying the framework because next summer we may have families starting to sign these contracts with businesses, whether locally or not locally. This is an ongoing conversation that we will get more clarity in the coming months, but come April, there most likely will be a vote, and it will probably pass.”