GREENDALE, Wis. — Despite growing momentum nationwide, NIL (Name, Image and Likeness) deals remain off limits in Wisconsin for high school student athletes. It’s been a heavily debated topic that continues to play out. 

What You Need To Know

  • At Wednesday’s Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association (WIAA) annual meeting, school leaders voted 219-170 against lifting the ban on NIL compensation for high school student athletes

  • Some expected the decision while others were surprised it did not pass

  • This decision runs counter to the growing trend across the country, with more than 30 high school athletic associations now permitting NIL compensation

  • Although highly uncommon, high school athletes can make significant earnings through endorsement deals with athletic apparel companies, but it’s a very small percentage that even have that chance

At Wednesday’s Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association (WIAA) annual meeting, school leaders voted 219-170 against lifting the ban on NIL compensation for high school student athletes. 

Dave Mentkowski, girls varsity basketball coach at Martin Luther High School, said the decision wasn’t entirely unexpected. 

“I’m not surprised,” said Mentkowski. “I think a lot of athletic directors want to have more conversations. I think it’s something that’s been in the works for a few years as far as some dialogue, but I think it started to pick up steam the last several weeks as being a really hot topic.”

For Travis Wilson, general manager at Wisconsin Sports Network, the outcome came as a surprise. This decision runs counter to the growing trend across the country, with more than 30 high school athletic associations now permitting NIL compensation. 

“I am a little surprised perhaps that it did not pass today,” said Wilson. “Building up to this, I thought there was a pretty good chance that it was going to pass. This was kind of the thought amongst a lot of people and then the last couple of weeks, I think that sentiment really started to change.”

Although highly uncommon, high school athletes can make significant earnings through endorsement deals with athletic apparel companies, but it’s a very small percentage that even have that chance. However, it does give high school athletes a chance to establish their names early on. 

“I think the WIAA would like it to pass,” said Mentkowski. “I think most people would like it to pass at some point because we feel that student athletes should have that right to go ahead and make a little bit of money off of their name, image and likeness. However, the institutions are going to have to be the police, so to speak.”

Mel Dow, associate director of WIAA, said while the vote fell short, it’s something the membership will continue to assess. 

“Is this something that the membership may continue discussing maybe another attempt at it a year from now? Absolutely,” said Dow. “You’ll have to go back and look at what language that they did not like in the proposed amendment that the membership put forward and just also take a look holistically. You know, is this something that’s appropriate for the state of Wisconsin?”

With 50 votes away from passage, Dow stressed the importance of this ongoing debate. 

“I think it’s going to be something the membership is going to want to continue to discuss,” said Dow. “Two years ago, the membership was 70-30 not in favor of having any NIL discussions. They saw the rest of the nation starting to take steps, moving forward and such. A year ago, it was 50-50 to have these conversations. This year, in the beginning of the year, it flipped to 70-30 where the membership said, ‘Yes, it’s time for us to start having these conversations.’”

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