I’m sure you’re aware that on July 1, 2021 the ability for college athletes to profit off their name, image, and likeness (NIL) went live.
It was wild because a handful of college athletes became millionaires overnight. Keep in mind, NIL is still in its early stages.
According to Opendorse, the market is expected to increase from a few hundred million to $3-4 billion over the next few years.
This is still a very conservative estimation because it’s only accounting for college athletics. NIL is already moving downstream.
New Jersey just passed preliminary legislature that would allow HS athletes to participate in NIL starting Jan 1, 2022.
California is the only other state that currently allows NIL for high school athletes.
What NIL Means for High School Athletes
When I was in high school I use to train a few kids and pull in a couple hundred a week. With NIL, you can scale this and run a camp that pulls in a few thousand a week.
NIL means more opportunities for high school athletes to profit off of their name, image, and likeness.
Because athletes can now get paid they will look for more ways to monetize their skill sets.
The Long Term Benefits of NIL
High school athletes getting themselves involved in training and mentoring younger athletes is a long term positive for high school sports.
NIL is a bright spot for future entrepreneurs and innovators in our society. Instead of sitting around playing video games, many kids will explore ways to make money since they are an athlete.
If a high schooler never makes it to college athletics – but learns how to build a website and start selling products, that’s a huge benefit to society.
About 60% of all high school students play at least one sport. That’s a huge opportunity to help further their skill sets in to the business world with real world application.
Mostly good will come out of this, but there will be some negatives – you need to be prepared.
How High School Athletes Can Prepare for NIL
I’m a firm believer that you should already be preparing for NIL whether it’s approved in your state or not.
The world is moving towards content creators, remote work, cryptocurrency, and the blockchain. NIL is at the forefront of this movement.
College athletes are the perfect example because the ones creating content are signing the biggest deals and working remotely to complete them.
Building Your Brand
The most important thing you can do as a high school athlete is build up your brand.
Chances are you’re already on social media platforms like Tik Tok, Instagram, Twitter, and AIR.
Stop scrolling for hours and start posting. 99% of the world are consumers, the other 1% is creators and they make all the money from the platforms.
It doesn’t matter how good of an athlete you are, if you have the audience – brands are willing to pay top dollar for sponsored posts.
(related: How to build your NIL brand in 11 days)
Setting Up Your NIL Home Base
It costs less than $10 to start a website and give yourself a home base for all things NIL.
Everything will go through your website.
It redirects to:
- social media accounts
- e-commerce store
- affiliates
- partnerships
- contact info
- and more
Your website is huge for SEO as well. When someone googles your name the website should show up.
(related: How to set up a website for free)
Keeping Perspective on the NIL Journey
As a 16 year old, I was only worried about two things: Basketball and Girls.
If I was a 16 year old today, I would be worried about three things: Basketball, Girls, and Making Money w/ NIL.
There will be high school athletes making thousands in the near future. Whether they decide to go make more money in college or skip that completely for semi-pro leagues will be an ever-changing process.
We’re only talking about the top 100 players in a sport though. For everyone else, college will be the likely move – with or without athletics.
You can’t lose sight of academics. The scholarship is somewhat diminished with NIL, but it’s still super valuable.
Put in equal effort between athletics, academics, NIL, and social events.
Building up your online brand is important with or without sports.
NIL is Live in New Jersey and Soon The Whole Country
As name, image, and likeness moves downstream high school athletes need to stay prepared.
There’s more to this movement than just making money.
You’re learning how to build a personal brand and take on entrepreneurial tasks.
These are skill sets that will last a lifetime and build lasting wealth.
California high school athletes can already do NIL deals, New Jersey athletes will be able to at the start of 2022.
- Set up your brand.
- Get help growing it.
- Take advantage of NIL deals as an athlete.
- Use the brand you built to boost your career.
The name, image, and likeness movement is teaching you how to win entrepreneurially in the 21st century. The best time to get started is today!
I post a new article regarding NIL everyday. Check them all out here: collegeathleteinsight.com/NIL
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