On Tuesday, Jan. 27, 2026, the Michigan High School Athletic Association approved expansions for Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) opportunities for high school student athletes.

Classified as Personal Branding Activities, or "PBA," will allow the athletes to monetize their personal brand through things like social media endorsements, autograph signings, photo shoots, merchandise sales, and event appearences. The MHSAA will require a seven-day disclosure prior to the opportunity and will not allow school or team involvement in the deals. Deals can also not be tied to a player's performance or enrollment.

"We have said from the start of this conversation that the MHSAA could be comfortable with a policy that provides individual branding opportunities for individual student-athletes, and this rule change provides those while excluding the possibility of collectives, and boosters and school people getting involved in those activities,” MHSAA Executive Director Mark Uyl said in a press release. “This is the essence of what NIL was supposed to allow in the first place, and we’re confident we’ve crafted language that allows true NIL opportunities without affecting competitive equity among our member schools.” 

Here are what some local high school athletic directors had to say about the approval:

• Baldwin's J.J. Eads: "I'm a bit surprised that NIL was approved this school year, but it was bound to happen. I think a lot of ADs think it could create an unequal playing field amongst schools. We are in a very small community and athletes in bigger cities may get more NIL opportunities, so that could become an issue, but time will tell."
• Pine River's Terry Martin: "I was disappointed to see the MHSAA and many other associations go in this direction. I feel that we use school sports as a way to build pride in our community and promote characteristics like team work and selflessness. This decision really seems to undermine the most valuable aspect of school sports."

All area athletic directors were contacted regarding the development, but many did not respond or declined to comment.

Michigan is now the 46th state in the U.S. to implement this type of policy regarding NIL. The previous policy limited athletes to only hosting camps and clinics.

See more details from the MHSAA here: Representative Council Approves Expansion of Personal Branding Activities for Student-Athletes