Lansing — Michigan high school student-athletes would be able to profit off of their name, image and likeness under a bill being considered in the state Legislature.
The House Higher Education Committee held a hearing Wednesday morning on legislation that would allow high school athletes to sign deals with third parties using their name, image or likeness, bringing Michigan in line with an estimated 20 other states that have legalized the scheme for high schoolers.
The bill specifically would prohibit schools and athletic associations from blocking students from participating in name, image and likeness — commonly referred to as NIL — deals with third parties.
The legislation comes two years after a U.S. Supreme Court decision opened the door for college athletes to benefit financially from companies using their name, image or likeness to promote products or events
Since then, NIL deals among student-athletes at Michigan universities have ranged from a star Detroit-Mercy basketball player promoting reflective basketballs to Jolly Pumpkin Café & Brewery inking a promotion deal with Michigan State University offensive linemen and long snappers for its East Lansing pub and a group of University of Michigan football players promoting the Michigan Army National Guard.
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Rep. Jimmie Wilson, Jr., the Ypsilanti Democrat who introduced the bill, said he is working with the Michigan High School Athletic Association to further develop the legislation that he envisions affecting roughly the top 1% of student athletes who would likely be approached for a name, image and likeness contract. The MHSAA governs high school sports in Michigan.
The legislation, Wilson said, would allow the Legislature to "put something in place that gives some governance over that and actually puts stipulation over what you can or cannot do.”
MHSAA executive director Mark Uyl said the association has been reviewing what the potential challenges of such a program would be as its adopted in other states and the current language of the bill gives the association some "heartburn."
Uyl said he envisions the legislation affecting an estimated 25 of the 180,000 students who participate in high school sports in Michigan. Students already are able to have their names attached to camps or individual lessons, Uyl said, but the bill could potentially help officials to wrap their arms around the emergence of student-athletes monetizing themselves on social media.
Uyl emphasized that the legislation should look to benefit individual students and avoid situations where a booster or alumni group pools money to form a collective to provide entire teams with NIL deals.
"That will undermine everything we’re doing at the high school level," Uyl said. "Anything that moves forward, it needs to be narrow, individual opportunities for individual students.”
The bill as it stands would require parental consent and the disclosure and recording of all deals with the Michigan High School Athletic Association to better track the implementation of the law. Any compensation received through an NIL deal could not be used by a school to offset or replace a grant or scholarship given to a student.
The legislation would prohibit students from entering NIL deals requiring them to wear or promote a specific sponsor or item during official team activities. It also would bar certain contracts, such as ones with alcohol or adult entertainment companies.
High schools could "identify or assist" with potential NIL deals under the bill, but the school or school representative could not serve as an agent or receive compensation related to the deal.
A separate proposal also under consideration Wednesday is one that would set up a support or advisory system for college athletes considering or managing transactions involving their name, image or likeness.
The legislation was introduced by Rep. Angela Witwer, D-Delta Township, but was pulled before committee with the expectation it will be reintroduced next week. Witwer on Wednesday testified alongside Alexandra Breske, assistant athletic director of risk management and policy for Michigan State University.
The bill initially introduced encourages universities to educate athletes on "financial literacy, brand management and life skills" as it pertains to student athletes.
"Right now, our student athletes rely on their coaches and other non-coaching staff members at the institution," Breske said. "They see them on a daily basis, they rely on them for life advice, things like this.
"These expanded opportunities would allow them to consult with those coaches and folks that they speak to on a daily basis to get their opinion, to get their advice. We're looking to expand those opportunities," Breske added.
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The initial legislation also would allow universities to partner with "third parties that license publicity rights or the use of name, image or likeness rights of student athletes" with some caveats. The third party can't be a national athletics association or conference and must have been in operation for at least five years. The school cannot "coerce, compel, or interfere" with a college athlete's ultimate decision.
The bill as introduced also would allow universities to fund an "independent, third-party administrator" who is not a sports agent to educate, monitor and report name, image and likeness activities.
NCAA rules prevent universities from using NIL partnerships as "recruiting inducements," Breske said.
"But we would be able to work with external stakeholders if someone identified, 'Oh, hey, we'd like to do an NIL deal with a member of your women's soccer team,' we could connect those individuals and they could speak," Breske said.
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