For three years now, Tennessee high school athletes have been able to legally earn money for their name, image, and likeness. They can sign sponsorship deals. They can charge for private lessons. They can monetize their social media. There is no cap on what they can make.
And yet, based on the calls coming into TSSAA’s office, the questions filling up parent group chats, and the conversations we’re hearing on the sidelines, most people still aren’t sure where the lines are.
So let’s walk through it.
What’s Actually Allowed
The short version: Tennessee athletes can earn money for activities not related to their athletic performance. That’s the key qualifier. The state isn’t paying anyone for points scored or yards gained. What it’s doing is letting student-athletes treat themselves like any other young entrepreneur — they can take endorsement deals, charge for coaching, post sponsored content, and build a personal brand.
That’s it. No earnings cap. No registration system. No revenue split with the school. If a 16-year-old quarterback wants to charge $100 an hour for private QB lessons over the summer, he can. If a junior on the volleyball team wants to take a sponsorship from a local nutrition company, she can. The state of Tennessee, through TSSAA, has said yes, with conditions.
“If a stranger could read the post and think the school is endorsing the deal — it’s a violation.”
Dr. Joshua S. Greer
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NILvana Sports
Where the Lines Are
This is the heart of the rule, and it’s where most violations happen. The TSSAA Amateur Rule is based on one principle: the school cannot appear to endorse the deal. Not the school logo. Not the school’s name. Not the championships the school has won. Not even an implication that the school is connected to the sponsorship.
Three things, in particular, are off limits in any compensated content. First, the school uniform: no jersey, no warmups, no anything bearing the school’s name or mascot. Second, references to TSSAA awards, state titles, all-state honors, or any league recognition. Third, anything that creates the impression of school endorsement, even indirectly.
That third one trips up the most athletes. A player will post a paid promotion for a local restaurant: totally clean, no uniform, no school references in the post itself, but their Instagram bio still says “#7 · Lions Football.” That bio sits one click above the paid post. To TSSAA, that’s a violation. The school name appears in the same profile as the compensated content.
Strip the team reference from the bio before posting the deal. Or strip the bio reference and put it back later. Either way, the two cannot coexist.
The Five People in Every Deal
Every NIL situation in a Tennessee high school involves the same five players, and what each can and cannot do is the most important thing to get straight.
| THE FIVE PEOPLE IN EVERY NIL DEAL #1 The Player — earns the money. Has to follow every rule in this article. #2 The Parent — evaluates the deal, manages the money, and reviews every post. #3 The Coach — stays out completely. Can’t help, even if asked. #4 The Athletic Director — fields questions, escalates concerns, and briefs boosters. #5 The Booster Club — can fund the team, never the player. Big distinction. |
The coach piece surprises people the most. Under the rule, a coach cannot facilitate, coordinate, promote, or negotiate any NIL deal for any player. They can’t review a contract. They can’t refer parents to a player for paid lessons. They can’t even informally connect their quarterback with a local business that’s been asking about him. The penalty for a coach getting involved isn’t on the coach; it’s on the player, and it can cost a full year of eligibility.
So the right answer from a coach, every time, is the same five words: “Talk to your family.” That’s the only legal response.
What It Costs to Get It Wrong
Penalties escalate fast. A first violation produces a formal written warning. The player must return any money or awards received and remove the offending content immediately. This is a survivable mistake; it is embarrassing, but recoverable.
A second violation is the season-ender. One full year of ineligibility, across every interscholastic sport at every level. Not the sport where the violation occurred, but every sport the athlete plays. A two-sport athlete who gets a second NIL violation in February has just lost their spring season and most of their next school year. A senior who gets a second violation has, in most cases, lost their high school career.
A third violation puts the penalty in the hands of the TSSAA Executive Director, who decides based on how serious or deliberate the pattern has been.
The math is brutal but simple: a single mistake is correctable. A second one is catastrophic.
How to Actually Make This Work
The athletes navigating NIL successfully in Tennessee share a few habits. They route every deal through a parent — never a coach. They strip school references from any social profile they use for paid content. They take the free 15-minute NFHS course at the start of every season, and they make their parents take it too. They document their deals, save copies of their sponsored posts, and treat the whole enterprise like the real business it is.
And when they’re not sure? They ask their athletic director, not their coach. The AD is the legal escalation point for any NIL question at the school level. For contracts of meaningful size, they hire an attorney. For routine questions about what’s allowed, they go directly to TSSAA’s website.
The opportunity is real.
Tennessee athletes are earning real money, some of it substantial, without giving up a single down of their eligibility. The athletes who lose their seasons are almost always the ones who didn’t take ten minutes to learn the rule.
Take the ten minutes.
| WANT THE FULL TOOLKIT? NILvana Sports publishes audience-specific briefings for coaches, athletes, parents, and athletic directors, as well as an eligibility quiz and printable one-pagers. Free download at NILvanaSports.com. SOURCE: TSSAA.ORG/NAME-IMAGE-LIKENESS © 2026 NILVANA SPORTS |
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