Mississippi High School NIL Bill Dies Quietly in House Committee

A bill that would have allowed Mississippi high school student-athletes to earn money from their name, image and likeness (NIL) failed to advance in the Legislature last week, dying quietly in the House Judiciary A Committee on deadline day.

The proposal, authored by Jeffery Harness, was titled the Mississippi High School Student-Athlete NIL Protection Act. It would have created a formal framework allowing public and private high school athletes participating in interscholastic sports to receive NIL compensation under specific restrictions.

Under the bill, NIL compensation could not have been tied to on-field performance, statistics, or participation, nor used as an incentive for a student to enroll in or transfer to a particular school.

The legislation also sought to clarify how and when NIL money could be paid. If a student-athlete earned $10,000 or less in a calendar year, the compensation could have been paid directly to the athlete or their parent or legal guardian. Any amount exceeding $10,000 would have been placed into a restricted trust account and held until the student either graduated from high school or turned 18, whichever came first.

Currently, Mississippi does not have a state law governing high school NIL deals. Last summer, Mississippi High School Activities Association Executive Director Rickey Neaves outlined existing MHSAA guidance allowing NIL agreements only under limited conditions. Those include prohibiting athletes or their families from receiving any money or benefits until the athlete graduates or exhausts eligibility, banning the use of school names, colors, uniforms or positions, and requiring all NIL compensation to be held in escrow until eligibility ends.

With the bill’s failure to advance out of the Mississippi House Judiciary A Committee, any changes to Mississippi’s approach to high school NIL compensation will have to wait until a future legislative session.