The Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association (MIAA) recently approved a Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) deal for Massachusetts high school student-athletes, pursuant to section 47.1.3 in the MIAA’s season handbook. This NIL deal permits student-athletes at participating MIAA schools to receive compensation off of their name, image, or likeness, with certain limitation, and it further authorizes student-athletes to be represented by an attorney or sports agency.
Student-athletes at qualifying MIAA schools must provide their respective schools with copies of their NIL agreements. The MIAA prohibits student-athletes from entering into NIL agreements that involve adult entertainment, alcohol, tobacco, cannabis, prescription pharmaceuticals, gambling, lotteries, weapons, firearms, ammunition, or a sportsbook entity, such as a casino or lottery. Moreover, these NIL agreements cannot reference the school name, nickname, or logo, and the student-athletes may not endorse anything during team or tournament activities with respect to their NIL deal, which includes wearing logos, insignias, or other identifying marks of their NIL partner. Furthermore, student-athletes are prohibited from using the MIAA name or logo.
With the new NIL deal in place for student-athletes in Massachusetts, Massachusetts has become the 16th state in the United States to allow high school student-athletes to profit off their name and likeness.