Since June of 2021, college athletes around the United States have been able to profit off their name, image and likeness (NIL) through marketing and promotional events, including product endorsements and autographs. In Arkansas, that could possibly expand to a portion of high school students under House Bill 1649, filed this month by House Speaker Matthew Shepherd.
Currently, the state’s NIL law only applies to college students, but HB 1649 would expand that to high school students who have been accepted to a college or a university or have signed a national letter of intent or a similar agreement.
Mountain Home Public Schools Athletic Director Mitch Huskey says his knowledge of all of the bill’s details is limited, but this was a road he was hoping the state wouldn’t be going down.
Listen:
In 2021, Arkansas Student-Athlete Publicity Rights Act, sponsored by Shepherd, was among several bills across the country challenging the National Collegiate Athletic Association’s (NCAA) previous policy banning student-athletes from signing paid sponsorship deals. The Republican from El Dorado tells the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette his new bill is aimed at keeping the state’s universities competitive in the often cutthroat world of recruiting by allowing some high school athletes to enter into NIL deals.
Huskey says if passed, he expects the bill to have different affects depending on which portion of the state an athlete is from.
Listen:
While HB 1649 doesn’t address all high school athletes, Shepherd says he expects an interim study to look further into the issue.
WebReadyTM Powered by WireReady® NSI