What's allowed
- Commercial NIL activity in the athlete's individual capacity, subject only to the general Amateur Rule (Bylaw 1.25)
What's prohibited
- Pay-for-play: any salary or financial compensation except actual expenses (Bylaw 1.25)
- Competing under an assumed name
- Receiving pay as reward for participating in any sport or public competition
- Receiving pay for appearing in person at any competition or exhibition (other than officiating or instructing in a recognized recreation program)
- Signing an athletic contract for any kind of pay
What the document is silent on
Silence is not permission and not prohibition — the governing document simply does not address these. We list them because most summaries wrongly convert silence into "no".
- school marks, logos, uniforms, and mascots in NIL activity
- collectives and boosters
- restricted product categories (alcohol/tobacco/gambling/cannabis/adult/firearms)
- parental consent
- agent representation ('agent' returns nothing across all 188 pages)
- disclosure ('disclos*' returns nothing across all 188 pages)
Parental consent, disclosure & representation
State-law status
UNVERIFIED — whether a Louisiana statute reaches high school NIL was not established (research budget exhausted before the statutory cross-check). Treat as OPEN, not as 'no conflict.' Also note a defect in LHSAA's own text: subsection 1.25.2 cross-references 'Bylaw 1.24' for amateur-rule violations, but 1.24 in the same handbook is Gender Equity in Competition — a stale cross-reference after renumbering.
Who sets this rule
Louisiana High School Athletic Association (LHSAA) sets Louisiana's high school eligibility rules. High school NIL is governed by private association bylaws — not federal law, and in most states not statute — which is why the answer differs state to state and can change in a single handbook cycle.
Sources
- 2026-2027 LHSAA Handbook — NIL Position Statement (p.175) (July 6, 2026)
LHSAA Bylaws do not prohibit student athletes from engaging in certain commercial activities in their individual capacities. These activities, generally referred to as Name, Image and Likeness (NIL), will not jeopardize a student athlete's amateur status if the student athlete complies with LHSAA Bylaw 1.25 on 'Maintaining Amateur Status' as well as all LHSAA Bylaws, policies, and regulations.
- 2026-2027 LHSAA Handbook — Bylaw 1.25, Maintaining Amateur Status (p.34) (July 6, 2026)
An amateur athlete is one who takes part in one or more branches of athletics for the sake of the sport alone, without receiving or expecting to receive any financial remuneration of any form.
- LHSAA NIL adoption press release (April 7, 2022) (April 7, 2022)
Governing text effective April 7, 2022.
Change history
- July 19, 2026 — Initial publication from primary-source research pass (adversarially verified; see citations).
Spot an error? Tell us and cite the source — we re-check the primary source before changing anything, and record what changed.
Other states
- Alabama — Prohibited
- Arkansas — Permitted with conditions
- California — Permitted with conditions
- Florida — Permitted with conditions
- Georgia — Permitted with conditions
- Illinois — Permitted with conditions
- Kentucky — Permitted with conditions
- Missouri — Permitted with conditions
- Mississippi — Prohibited
- North Carolina — Permitted with conditions
- New York — Permitted with conditions
- Ohio — Permitted with conditions
- Oklahoma — Permitted with conditions
- Pennsylvania — Permitted with conditions
- South Carolina — Prohibited
- Tennessee — Permitted with conditions
- Texas — Permitted with conditions