Wisconsin high schools vote down NIL for athletes

STEVENS POINT (WLUK) -- High school athletes in Wisconsin will not be allowed to earn money through their name, image and likeness.

WIAA member schools had a chance to make some real noise Wednesday as athletic directors were voting on whether to approve Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) for high school athletes.

The vote was held at the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association (WIAA) Annual Meeting and after a few comments from athletic directors, NIL was put to a vote. In the end, it fell short, 219 to 170.

So, for at least the near future, NIL will not be available for high school athletes.

"I'm a little surprised," West De Pere Athletic Director Scott Eggart said. "I think if we just have a little more time, hopefully it happens, and I think it offers a lot pros for kids and schools in protection for what we do and try to do the best thing for our kids."

"Not super-surprised by it," Kimberly Athletic Director Ryan McGinnis said. "I think it was a relatively close vote. I think what we've heard in talking to other athletic directors is we need more information."

I think with more information we know it's going to happen and I think when it happens there's going to be a learning curve but I think we can lessen that learning curve by preparing more ahead of time.

College sports have been changed due to NIL as some athletes are switching schools multiple times in order to make as much money in NIL as possible. Most agree, NIL has not been good for college sports, but at the high school level it would not have the same impact.

First of all, athletes would not be able to use their school uniforms, colors or name for NIL purposes. The potential money would likely come from local businesses and how much would a local business invest in a high school athlete?

"Right now the college landscape, when you say NIL it scares people," Eggart said. "I think it's more fear. People don't know enough yet and they're just scared of NIL because they see what's happening at the NCAA level."

"I think we know it needs to happen, because it's happening in 30-some other states and I think what we're trying to do is how do we do it best for kids, how to protect kids from some shady deals," McGinnis said. "At the end of the day, the athletic director is going to be the person that has to carry it out and communicate it out to the community so in order to do that, we need to use those states that have done it and deep dive into what they've done, what has worked, what hasn't worked and then implement it here."

Thirty-one states have implemented Name, Image and Likeness and if it would have passed on Wednesday it would have been made available for high school athletes starting in mid-May.

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