Georgia High School Association approves NILs for student-athletes Georgia High School Association approves NILs for student-athletes

Georgia high school athletes from any sport will be able to earn money off of their name, image, and likeness, commonly referred to as NIL, following a recent unanimous vote by the Georgia High School Association, or GHSA, executive committee. 

The General Assembly passed legislation two years ago letting student-athletes at Georgia colleges, universities and technical colleges receive compensation for use of their name, image and likeness, and Monday’s 65-10 vote will put Georgia’s high school athletes on a par with those students playing college sports. 

According to the National Collegiate Athletic Association, college-bound student-athletes enrolling for the first time at a Division I or II school must receive a final amateurism certification before being eligible to compete.  Monday’s decision by the GHSA places Georgia in line with more than two dozen other states that allow high school students to profit from their name, image, and likeness without affecting their amateaur status. The new high school rule comes with a number of restrictions students must comply with in order to maintain that amateur status.

Students may not wear school logos, school names, school uniforms, or any items depicting school mascots or any trademarked GHSA logo or acronym in association with NIL advertising, and no GHSA member school facility may be used. Student athletes may not promote products that conflict with a member school’s local school district policies, including tobacco, alcohol, or controlled substances.

Compensation paid through NILs must not be contingent on specific athletic performance or achievement, or as an incentive to enroll or remain enrolled at a specific school, and students entering into an NIL agreement, or a student’s parents or guardians, must notify the school’s principal or athletic director within seven calendar days.

GHSA urges students and their families to seek professional guidance on tax implications of NIL activities, and on how NIL activities could affect collegiate financial aid.