- High school NIL
- Prohibited for public school athletes
- High school authority
- South Carolina High School League (SCHSL); SCISA for independent schools
- High school rule
- SCHSL amateur bylaws, amended June 2025 to state that student-athletes may not earn compensation for their sport
- High school effective
- June 2025 amendment. Driven by a 2025-26 state budget proviso barring public school districts from any association that permits NIL.
- College NIL
- Permitted, with schools and coaches allowed to assist
- College law
- South Carolina Act of May 2024 lifting state NIL restrictions (H. 4957 as summarized), replacing the 2021 statute
- College effective
- Original 2021 law effective July 1, 2021, later suspended. Replacement law signed May 2024.
- Paperwork
- Treat any offer of money or value tied to athletics as an eligibility risk while SCHSL-eligible, and decline it
- Penalty
- Loss of amateur status and SCHSL eligibility. The legislature's proviso puts pressure on the league to enforce strictly.
Where high school NIL stands in South Carolina.
South Carolina went the other direction in 2025. For a time the SCHSL bylaws said a student-athlete may earn compensation as long as it was not tied to performance, school or league logos, or enrollment, wording that many read as permitting NIL. Then the legislature attached a proviso to the state budget barring public school districts from affiliating with any athletic association that permits or authorizes NIL. In June 2025 the SCHSL rewrote its bylaws to say students may not earn compensation for their sport.
Commissioner Jerome Singleton has said the league's position never changed and that the wording simply reaffirms amateur status. In practice, a public school athlete in South Carolina cannot be paid for anything connected to athletic identity while SCHSL-eligible. Athletes at independent schools governed by SCISA are under different rules and may engage in NIL that is separated from the school.
Effective: June 2025 amendment. Driven by a 2025-26 state budget proviso barring public school districts from any association that permits NIL.
What a high school athlete can and can't do.
Allowed
- ✓Building a personal brand and audience with no compensation attached
- ✓NIL for athletes at SCISA independent schools, if kept separate from the school
- ✓College NIL once enrolled, under school policy, NCAA rules, and state law
Not allowed
- ×Compensation for the athlete's sport or athletic identity while SCHSL-eligible
- ×Material awards beyond actual expenses such as hotel and transportation
- ×Competing for monetary prizes
- ×School or league logos, uniforms, or references in any commercial activity
- ×Any deal that functions as an incentive to enroll at a particular school
The high school checklist.
- →Treat any offer of money or value tied to athletics as an eligibility risk while SCHSL-eligible, and decline it
- →If at a SCISA school, confirm that association's current policy and keep the school out of any deal
- →Plan NIL around college enrollment, not the senior season
- →Watch the legislature: the proviso is a budget provision and can change year to year
Agents and advisors
For SCHSL athletes the practical rule is no compensated agreements while eligible. South Carolina regulates athlete agents under its Uniform Athlete Agents Act, with registration through the state. MSG's work with South Carolina high school athletes is preparation and planning for college, when both state law and the House settlement open NIL fully.
Penalties
Loss of amateur status and SCHSL eligibility. The legislature's proviso puts pressure on the league to enforce strictly.
College NIL in South Carolina.
South Carolina's first college NIL law took effect in July 2021 alongside the NCAA's interim policy but was more restrictive than the NCAA's rules, so legislators suspended it. In 2024, at the request of the Clemson and South Carolina football coaches, the legislature passed a new law, signed in May 2024, that allows schools and coaches to represent and assist athletes with NIL deals and was framed as helping athletes navigate contracts safely.
Since July 2025, Clemson, South Carolina, and other opted-in schools may also pay athletes directly under the House settlement. Note the contrast: the same legislature that opened college NIL used the 2025 budget to close high school NIL for public schools.
Effective: Original 2021 law effective July 1, 2021, later suspended. Replacement law signed May 2024.
South Carolina law: key points
- ✓Schools and coaches may assist and represent athletes in NIL matters under the 2024 law
- ✓Restrictions from the 2021 statute are lifted
- ✓Direct school payments permitted under the House settlement for opted-in schools
- ✓NIL Go reporting applies to third-party deals of $600 or more
- ✓Agents must register under South Carolina's Uniform Athlete Agents Act
National framework (House settlement)
Since July 1, 2025, college NIL runs on two tracks. Third-party deals with brands and businesses remain open, and the House v. NCAA settlement now lets Division I schools that opted in pay athletes directly, capped at roughly $20.5 million per school in the first year and rising annually. State law sits on top of that framework and can add rules, but cannot take the federal settlement terms away.
- →Third-party NIL deals of $600 or more must be reported through the NIL Go clearinghouse, generally within five business days, and are reviewed for fair market value
- →Direct payments from a school count against that school's revenue-sharing cap; third-party deals do not
- →The College Sports Commission handles enforcement tied to settlement rules; the NCAA still governs eligibility
- →Every school also has its own NIL policy on disclosure, prohibited categories, and use of school marks, and it applies alongside state law
- →Federal NIL legislation has been proposed repeatedly and remains unresolved
Major Sports Group
What this means for a South Carolina athlete.
South Carolina is a patience state for public school athletes, and the money on the other side is real: Clemson and South Carolina both operate under a 2024 state law that lets coaches and schools help athletes with deals. The brand you build in high school is what you bring to that table.
MSG's job here is to keep an athlete clean through senior year, build the audience without a dollar changing hands, and be ready to move on day one of college. If the family is at a SCISA school, the rules are different and we structure accordingly.
South Carolina NIL FAQ.
Can high school athletes in South Carolina do NIL deals?
Not at public schools. In June 2025 the SCHSL amended its bylaws to state that student-athletes may not earn compensation for their sport, after the legislature barred public districts from belonging to any association that permits NIL. Athletes at SCISA independent schools operate under separate rules that allow NIL separated from the school.
Did South Carolina ever allow high school NIL?
The SCHSL bylaws briefly used wording that many read as permitting compensation not tied to performance or school marks, but the league says its position never changed. The June 2025 rewrite removed the ambiguity in favor of prohibition.
Why did South Carolina ban high school NIL?
A proviso in the 2025-26 state budget prohibits public school districts from affiliating with any athletic association that permits or authorizes NIL. The SCHSL amended its bylaws to comply and continue operating.
Can a South Carolina high school athlete have an agent?
Not for compensated agreements while SCHSL-eligible. South Carolina requires athlete agents to register under its Uniform Athlete Agents Act. Planning for college NIL with a registered agent is a different matter from signing anything.
Can private school athletes in South Carolina do NIL?
SCISA, which governs independent schools, allows NIL that is kept separate from the school. Confirm the current SCISA policy and the school's own rules before signing.
What is South Carolina's college NIL law?
A law signed in May 2024 that lifted the restrictions of the state's 2021 statute and allows schools and coaches to assist and represent athletes with NIL deals. It was passed at the request of the Clemson and South Carolina football programs.
Can Clemson and South Carolina pay athletes directly?
Yes, for schools that opted into the House settlement, since July 1, 2025, within the revenue-sharing cap. The 2024 state law also allows coaches and schools to help athletes with third-party deals.
- SC High School League adjusts NIL policy to comply with state budget (SC Daily Gazette, June 2025)
- South Carolina moves to ban NIL for high school athletes (Sports Illustrated, June 2025)
- SCHSL rewords bylaws to prohibit NIL deals (On3, June 2025)
- State-by-state high school NIL regulations (MOGL, December 2025)
- NIL Rules in 2026: updated guide (Sportsepreneur, June 2026)
Rules change, sometimes mid-season. This page reflects the sources above as of August 2026 and is general information, not legal advice. Confirm the current position of the South Carolina High School League, your college\u2019s NIL policy, and your school before signing anything.