SOUTHFIELD, Mich. (WXYZ) — High school students can now profit off of their own name, image and likeness, or NIL. Think endorsements and autograph sessions. The Michigan High School Athletic Association announced the policy change Tuesday to expand "personal branding activities."
Whether it's a good idea depends on who you ask. For some, it’s a long-overdue payday for student-athletes. For others, it’s a threat to the spirit of the game.
Watch Darren Cunningham's video report below:
7 News Detroit spoke to parents whose children play high school varsity basketball at Ferndale University and Southfield A&T.
“I think it’s kinda outrageous. I don’t think the money should be involved with the high school players. I think you’ll turn the system into something totally different,” parent Rodney Milton said.
Parent Monroe Woodard said, “I think it’s good. Anytime you can earn money toward anything, whether it’s school, whether other expenses as an athlete, that’s fine, but I do believe the parents should be involved.”
The game remains the same. But for boys and girls playing any high school sport, the stakes have never been higher.
“It seems like it was kind of a matter of time with the way college athletics are trending right now, the popularity around recruiting, who the next stars are gonna be,” Jared Ramsey, the high school sports beat writer for the Detroit Free Press, told 7 News Detroit.
He said Michigan is the 46th state to allow NIL deals at the high school level and that Ohio was the 45th. After the first month in Ohio, Ramsey said only 11 student-athletes in the buckeye state signed NIL contracts.
“It sounds like it’s going to be for the 1% of athletes who could potentially make it to the college level, could make it to the pro level and have built up enough of a brand to move the needle," Ramsey said.
Southfield A&T head varsity basketball coach Josh Lyle, who applauds the decision, said it’s going to be on parents, coaches and schools to instill financial literacy.
He said he sees the opportunity as a motivator for young athletes.
“So a lot of times, you have guys that are looking at oh, I have to get a scholarship, but now they’re looking at OK, I might be playing for a brand who's now sponsoring me. So, now not only am I a brand for myself and representing my family, but I’m representing a local business as well. So, it can push them harder and motivate them a lot more," Lyle explained.
Geoff Kimmerly, the communications director for the Michigan High School Athletic Association, told 7 News Detroit these are opportunities for students to connect with third parties that have no connection to a student's school.
“They’re individual opportunities for individual student-athletes, and that’s really the most important thing for everybody to understand with what we’re allowing moving forward. We’re not allowing anything that resembles a group activity, kind of collective activity, anything that would involve persuading a student to leave one school and go to play for a coach somewhere else or anything like that," he explained.
