The Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association, the state’s governing body for high school sports, overwhelmingly passed The Name, Image, and Likeness amendment at their annual meeting in Stevens Point Friday afternoon by a vote of 293 to 108.
This change will allow student-athletes to enter into NIL opportunities for activities not associated with their school, team, conference, or the WIAA.
Executive Director Stephanie Hauser said, “With today’s vote, member schools have opted to join a growing list of states that allow student-athletes to capitalize on their athletic talents in a way that is similar to students with other values, talents, and skills.”
The amendment failed by a 49-vote margin last year. Hauser said that after going back to its membership for feedback and working on specifics regarding NIL, they have better educated the membership on the differences between what The WIAA is proposing and what you see at the college level.
She says that high school rules, such as transfer eligibility rules, are crucial to prevent kids from transferring from one school to another in search of better opportunities.
Hauser continues, “There’s also the data that we’ve seen that this only impacts one percent maximum of high school students. At its core, The WIAA is charged with promoting fairness and sportsmanship while protecting the integrity of the game-something I believe this NIL language preserves. Education was the key, and we wanted to make sure that everybody came to this meeting feeling that they were an informed voter.”
NIL is expected to be implemented in Wisconsin by the end of May.
