Attorney
NIL deals are real legal contracts, not informal sponsorships. They can affect athletic eligibility, college scholarships, tax obligations, and personal brand decisions for years to come. Most contracts are drafted to protect the brand, not your student-athlete. And the pressure to sign fast, often within days, is one of the strongest signals that the deal needs careful review before anyone agrees to anything. This guide covers what parents should look for and where to get help. For specific contracts, an NIL attorney should always review before signing.
Why Parents Are the Real Decision-Makers
IUnder contract law in most states, a contract signed only by your minor student-athlete is legally voidable, meaning the minor can walk away from it before turning 18 or within a reasonable time after. Brands know this, which is why they rarely accept a contract the minor signs alone.
That sounds protective, and in some ways it is, but it has practical consequences. Since brands rarely accept the risk of an unenforceable contract, most NIL deals involving a minor require a parent or guardian to co-sign. Once you co-sign, you are legally responsible for everything in that contract: deliverables your child has to meet, exclusivity obligations, image rights granted, and damages if something falls through.
That makes the parent the actual decision-maker on every meaningful term.
The Five Questions to Ask Before Signing Anything
You do not need a law degree to evaluate an NIL deal at a high level. You do need answers to a handful of questions before you let your student-athlete put their name on the page.
1. Does This Deal Put College Eligibility at Risk?
High school NIL is governed by a patchwork of state laws and athletic association rules. As of late 2025, 45 states plus Washington, D.C. allow some form of high school NIL. Each state has its own restrictions, such as prohibiting endorsements involving alcohol, tobacco, gambling, weapons, and references to school marks or uniforms.
Even when a deal is allowed at the high school level, it can still create issues for college eligibility down the line. Once your student-athlete enrolls at a Division I school, NCAA disclosure rules apply to NIL deals signed during high school. Under the House v. NCAA settlement, deals worth $600 or more entered into from the start of junior year forward must be reported to the College Sports Commission and may be reviewed for valid business purpose and reasonable compensation, meaning a deal that looked fine in 10th grade may face scrutiny years later.
2. How Long Does the Deal Last?
Length matters more than most families realize. A two-year exclusivity deal signed in 10th grade may look reasonable until your student-athlete becomes a top recruit and a national brand wants in. By that point, the earlier deal may block the bigger opportunity entirely.
Generally, shorter contracts with renewal options are friendlier to a developing student-athlete’s career than long-term commitments locked in early. If a brand insists on a multi-year term, the compensation should reflect the commitment, and the agreement should include an exit path that does not depend on the brand’s permission.
3. What Rights Is the Family Actually Granting?
NIL contracts often grant rights to a student-athlete’s name, image, voice, signature, likeness, and biographical information, sometimes broadly, sometimes for specific purposes only. The same contract may grant the brand the right to sublicense those rights to third parties without further permission, and rights may extend beyond the contract’s end date.
Before signing, families should know exactly what is being licensed, where the content can appear, how long the rights last, and whether the brand can sublicense without notice. A two-sentence intellectual property clause buried on page four can grant rights that last well beyond the deal itself.
4. What Are the Tax Obligations?
NIL income is taxable income. The IRS does not care that the earner is 16 years old. A student-athlete who has $400 or more in net self-employment income owes self-employment tax in addition to federal and state income tax. Failure to plan for taxes is one of the most common avoidable mistakes families make.
At the high school and early college level, parents should plan to set aside a meaningful percentage of NIL earnings for taxes, keep records of every deal and payment, and consider whether quarterly estimated tax payments make sense. A tax professional familiar with NIL income is worth the consultation cost when the dollars get serious.
5. Who Drafted This Contract and Who Reviews It?
A contract drafted by the brand’s lawyers is designed to protect the brand. That is normal, but it means the family needs an independent reviewer working on the student-athlete’s side of the table. Why a lawyer rather than an agent should review the agreement is covered separately. The key distinction: only a licensed attorney can provide legal advice about enforceability, eligibility risk, and regulatory compliance, not just help close a deal. Both can have a role, but only an attorney is qualified to assess legal exposure and enforceability.
Pressure to Sign Fast Is the Loudest Red Flag
Time pressure is one of the most common warning signs in any contract negotiation and it shows up frequently in NIL deals targeting high school student-athletes.
Common pressure patterns include: the offer is “only good for 48 hours,” the brand wants a signed contract before announcing a campaign launch, an agent or collective stresses that “the spot is closing,” or a competitor is supposedly waiting in the wings. Some of these are real business constraints. Many are not.
A legitimate brand that wants a long-term relationship with your student-athlete will give your family enough time to read the contract, ask questions, and bring in a legal reviewer. A brand that won’t allow even a few days for review is telling you something about how they will handle the rest of the relationship.
If something feels rushed, slow it down. The cost of a contract review is small relative to what a poorly structured NIL deal involving a minor can cost your family later.
What Parents Should Watch For Beyond the Contract
A few practical concerns sit outside the contract itself but matter just as much:
Reputation and Platform Decisions
NIL deals shape your student-athlete’s public brand. Endorsement of products that do not match their values or that conflict with their long-term aspirations can affect future opportunities in ways that are hard to undo.
Conflicts with Future Scholarship Offers
Schools and conferences sometimes hold rights or relationships that conflict with a personal brand deal. A deal that grants exclusive rights in a category can create friction with a future university partnership.
Family Dynamics Around Money
Significant NIL income, especially during high school, can create complications around financial decision-making, sibling fairness, and college planning. Setting expectations early about how earnings are managed is its own conversation.
Mental Health and Pressure
Brand obligations (e.g., social media commitments, public appearances, deliverable deadlines) add real pressure to a young athlete already managing school, training, and competition. Parents should weigh whether the deal’s requirements are sustainable for their child as a person, not just as a brand.
How an Attorney Helps Before the Contract Is Signed
An NIL attorney does several things that an agent or in-house compliance officer cannot:
- Identifies clauses that conflict with state law, athletic association rules, or NCAA standards before the contract is signed.
- Negotiates length, exclusivity, and termination terms to better fit the student-athlete’s likely trajectory.
- Confirms what intellectual property rights are actually being granted, for how long, and to whom.
- Communicates with the brand’s counsel on the family’s behalf, which often produces cleaner final terms with less friction than direct family-to-brand negotiation.
That work happens before the contract is signed, when the family still has leverage. After signing, the options narrow significantly.
Talk to The Hughes Companies Before Your Family Signs
NIL is moving fast, and the deals reaching student-athletes earlier in their careers carry obligations that can shape the next decade. The Hughes Companies represents student-athletes and their families on NIL contract review, negotiation, and dispute support across Oregon and Nebraska. Attorney Michael R. Hughes is licensed in both states and registered as a sports agent, which means one family advisor can address contract review and representation needs together.
Schedule a free consultation to walk through a deal currently on your family’s table, or visit our NIL legal services overview.