Can high school athletes in Texas do NIL deals?

Effectively no — with one narrow exception. Ordinary commercial NIL is barred for Texas high school athletes while they have UIL eligibility: receiving valuable consideration for allowing your name to be used in promoting a product, plan, or service forfeits amateur status in that sport. The exception, created by Texas HB 126 (effective September 1, 2025): a prospective collegiate athlete may sign an NIL agreement with a postsecondary institution — the college itself, not a brand or collective. Athletes under 17 may not sign at all, and non-institutional deals cannot be executed until UIL eligibility in that sport is exhausted.

Texas High School NIL Rules (UIL)

What's allowed

A prospective collegiate student-athlete may sign an NIL agreement with a postsecondary institution, in accordance with Texas HB 126 (UIL Section 441(b)(3))

What's prohibited

Receiving money or other valuable consideration for participating in a UIL sport
Receiving valuable consideration for allowing your name to be used in promoting a product, plan, or service — the general commercial-NIL bar
Executing a non-institutional NIL deal before UIL eligibility in that sport is exhausted
Signing any NIL agreement under age 17

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".

parental consent in the UIL rule itself
agent representation in the UIL rule itself

Parental consent, disclosure & representation

Parental consent required

Not addressed

Disclosure required

Yes

School marks allowed

No

Agent / representation addressed

Not addressed

Disclosure runs to: Reported (not verbatim-verified): disclosure to the institution before signing. Texas Educ. Code 51.9246(g)-(h) requires pre-signing disclosure with a 10-day conflict-resolution window at the college level.

State-law status

Texas HB 126 (89th Legislature, signed June 2025, effective 2025-09-01) is the statute behind the carve-out. Note: the prohibition is sport-specific ('in the applicable sport'). Section 441 is a long-standing amateurism bylaw that PREDATES NIL; the July 15, 2025 document is UIL guidance interpreting it.

Who sets this rule

University Interscholastic League (UIL) sets Texas'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

UIL Section 441 — Amateur Athletic Status (July 15, 2025)
For purposes of competing in an athletic contest, a student in grades 9-12 is not an amateur if that individual, within the preceding 12 months ... received valuable consideration for allowing his or her name to be used in promoting a product, plan or service.
UIL NIL Information (2026-27 policy page) (July 15, 2025)
Prospective collegiate student-athletes may also sign other financial agreements, including Name, Image or Likeness agreements, with a postsecondary institution, in accordance with state law.
Texas HB 126, 89th Legislature (2025) (June 5, 2025)

Governing text effective September 1, 2025.

Change history

July 19, 2026 — Initial publication from primary-source research pass (adversarially verified; see citations).

Not legal advice. This page documents publicly available rules and is not legal advice. Rules change, and associations do not always announce changes. Confirm anything you rely on with the governing association, your school compliance office, or your own counsel before acting.

Spot an error? Tell us and cite the source — we re-check the primary source before changing anything, and record what changed.