Can High School Athletes Get NIL Deals in Utah? The 2026-27 Rules Explained

Yes. A Utah high school athlete can accept money for the use of their name, image and likeness. The Utah High School Activities Association's 2026-27 handbook allows it, with two limits: no school uniform or school insignia in the promotion, and no lending of the athlete's name and team affiliation to a commercial endorsement. Athletes who plan to play NCAA Division I sports carry a second set of rules from the first day of their junior year, because the College Sports Commission will ask them to report those deals when they enroll in college.

Some readers here are under 18. What follows explains where the rules sit and links to the official documents. It is not legal or tax advice. Before signing anything, talk it through with a parent or guardian and your school's athletic director, and read the Utah NIL Guide for the basics.

Can high school athletes get NIL deals in Utah?

They can. The UHSAA amateur rule, Article 1, Section 6 of the 2026-27 handbook, still makes an athlete ineligible for high school competition for, among other things, competing for money, competing under an assumed name, selling or pawning a non-school award, or signing a professional contract. NIL is handled separately in the interpretations to that rule. Interpretation 1.6.1 F says a student "may accept money" for the use of their name, image and likeness.

The same interpretation then lists what turns an NIL deal into an amateur-rule violation:

• Wearing a school team uniform or any identifying school insignia while appearing in an advertisement, promotional activity or endorsement for any commercial product or service.
• Lending your name and team affiliation for the purpose of a commercial endorsement.

The handbook adds that the provision is not intended to restrict a student's right to take part in a commercial endorsement "provided there is no school team or school affiliation." Appearances for nonprofit organizations must be approved by the UHSAA Board of Trustees.

In practice, that means a deal built around you as a person can work, while a deal built around your high school's name, team affiliation or insignia does not. A local business can pay a quarterback to appear in its ads in street clothes; the same ad with the quarterback in a team jersey, or captioned with the school's name, crosses the line.

What still costs you high school eligibility

NIL money is not the same as being paid to play. The handbook's amateur rule and Section 7 keep these limits in place for 2026-27:

• Competing for money in any organized athletic activity, including competing for a cash prize. The handbook says it does not matter whether the prize only covers expenses.
• Accepting a cash award for taking part in a UHSAA-sponsored or approved activity.
• Signing a professional athletic contract. The handbook limits that ineligibility to the sport in which the contract was signed.
• Knowingly playing on or against a team that includes professional athletes in organized competition (individual sports are excluded if no money is received).

Necessary meals, lodging and transportation provided as services, rather than as money, are permitted under the same interpretations.

The rules that start in junior year for Division I prospects

The second layer comes from the House v. NCAA settlement and the NCAA bylaws written after it. The College Sports Commission, the independent body that enforces the settlement's rules, applies it to anyone who later enrolls at a Division I school. Its high school FAQ says a prospect must report any NIL deal worth $600 or more, including smaller deals that add up to $600 or more, with payments made from the first day of junior year or July 1, 2025, whichever was later.

A few details matter for families:

• Deals from before junior year do not need reporting, but a deal signed earlier that keeps paying during junior and senior years does.
• Non-cash deals count. Free food, gear or services must be reported if their total value is $600 or more.
• At present, you cannot report from high school. NIL Go, the commission's reporting platform, opens to athletes only after they enroll in college, though the commission says it is exploring options for earlier reporting. The commission recommends keeping detailed records of every deal in the meantime.
• The deadline is short. Deals must be disclosed within 14 days of starting full-time classes at a Division I school, or before the athlete's first Division I game, whichever comes first.

Not reporting, or reporting late, can put Division I eligibility at risk, the commission's FAQ says. For a deal that is not allowed under the rules, the FAQ says the athlete would work with the school and the commission to cancel or pay back the deal, and can also appeal a commission decision to a neutral arbitrator.

Which deals the College Sports Commission will question

Most of the scrutiny falls on deals with people and businesses associated with the Division I school an athlete eventually picks. The commission's definition includes collectives and other entities that exist in significant part to support a particular school's athletes, their owners and employees, anyone who has given more than $50,000 over their lifetime to that school or such an entity, and anyone who has helped recruit or retain athletes for it.

A deal with an associated payer has to pass two tests. It needs a valid business purpose, meaning the athlete is promoting a real product, service or event offered to the public for profit. And the pay must fall within a range of compensation similar to what athletes with comparable profiles earn for comparable work. The commission lists deals that fail: being paid without having to promote anything, being paid with no defined plan to use your NIL, payments meant to steer you to a school, and a school's guarantee of a set amount of third-party NIL money.

Deals with companies and people who are not associated with your eventual school are allowed and, in the commission's words, "are not subject to the same level of scrutiny." Our NIL Go explainer walks through how the clearinghouse reviews deals once you are enrolled.

Can a high school athlete have an agent?

Yes. The commission's one-page guide for high school athletes says you can use an agent or marketing professional to help with NIL deals. That does not change the UHSAA limits above, and it does not move the reporting responsibility off the athlete.

What changes once you enroll at a Utah college

Utah law adds its own list of off-limits deals for college athletes. House Bill 479 from the 2025 session, which took effect May 7, 2025, bars a student athlete at a Utah institution from signing an agreement that promotes tobacco or vaping products, alcohol, a seller of controlled substances (the bill names steroids, antibiotics and marijuana), gambling or betting, a sexually oriented business, or a firearm the athlete cannot legally buy. The statute applies to athletes enrolled at a college or university, not to high school students.

For a sense of what deals look like at the college level, see our guides on how to get an NIL deal, pricing a sponsored post and NIL taxes, plus the public NIL valuations of Utah college athletes.

A checklist for Utah families

• Keep NIL promotions free of school uniforms, logos and team names.
• Remember that nonprofit appearances need UHSAA Board of Trustees approval; ask your athletic director about the process.
• Starting junior year, save every NIL contract, invoice and record of free products or services.
• If Division I is a goal, expect every deal worth $600 or more from junior year on, including smaller deals that add up, to be reported and reviewed, and take extra care with offers from boosters or collectives tied to a college you are considering.
• Read the official documents yourself: the UHSAA handbook and the College Sports Commission's high school FAQ and fact sheet are linked in the sources below.

Key facts:

• Allowed in Utah high schools: NIL payments, under UHSAA 2026-27 Interpretation 1.6.1 F
• Not allowed: school uniform or insignia in a promotion, or lending your name and team affiliation to a commercial endorsement
• Nonprofit appearances: need UHSAA Board of Trustees approval
• Still disqualifying: competing for money or cash prizes, cash awards, a professional contract in that sport
• Division I reporting window: deals worth $600 or more with payments from the later of junior year's first day or July 1, 2025
• Deadline: within 14 days of starting full-time classes at a Division I school, or before the first Division I game, whichever comes first
• Non-cash deals: count toward the $600 line
• Utah college law: H.B. 479 (2025) bans NIL deals for tobacco, alcohol, controlled substances, gambling, sexually oriented businesses and some firearms