How to Get NIL Deals in High School: A Step-by-Step Guide

Most high school athletes assume NIL is a college thing. It isn't anymore — a majority of states now allow high school athletes to earn from their name, image, and likeness in some form, and the athletes getting paid usually aren't the five-stars. They're the ones who were easy to find, easy to work with, and already had an audience the local business wanted to reach.

This is the step-by-step version: what to check first, how to become someone worth paying, where the first deals actually come from, and what to look at before you sign.

Quick answer: confirm your state's rules with your athletic director, clean up and set up your profiles, build a small but engaged local audience, make a one-page media kit, pitch 5–10 local businesses with one specific idea each, and get every agreement reviewed by a parent and your AD before signing.

Step 1: Check your state's rules before anything else

This is the step that protects your eligibility, so it goes first.

High school NIL is governed state by state, by each state's high school athletic association — not by the NCAA. The rules vary a lot, and several states have changed theirs in the last couple of years. What's normal in one state can cost you a season in another.

Before you pursue anything, ask your athletic director three questions:

1. Is NIL compensation permitted for athletes in our state, and under what conditions?
2. What am I not allowed to do? (Common restrictions include using school logos, uniforms, mascots, or facilities, and promoting categories like alcohol, tobacco, gambling, or firearms.)
3. Is there a disclosure or approval process I need to follow?

Get the answers in writing if you can — an email from your AD is a good thing to have. And re-check before each school year, because these rules move.

Step 2: Become findable and worth finding

A business can't pay you if they can't figure out who you are. Before you pitch anyone, spend twenty minutes making your profiles do the work:

• Same handle across platforms — your name, or name plus jersey number.
• A bio with the facts: name, class year, position, school, city, and a contact email.
• A real email you check. Deals die in unread DMs more often than they die in negotiations.
• Your best 60 seconds pinned to the top of your profile.

Then do the clean-up pass. Scroll your accounts back to the beginning and delete anything you wouldn't want read aloud in a meeting between your coach, your parents, and a business owner. Brands are risk-averse, and the smaller the business, the more personal the risk feels to them.

We break this whole setup down in The High School Playbook.

Step 3: Build the kind of audience that gets paid

Here's the thing most athletes get wrong: they chase follower count when businesses are buying local relevance.

A pizza shop three miles from your school would rather work with an athlete followed by 1,200 people in your town than one followed by 30,000 people scattered across the country. Those 1,200 are the ones who might actually walk in. That's the whole calculation.

So build for your city:

• Post consistently — three posts a week beats ten posts one week and nothing for a month.
• Mix it up: the work (training, film), the games (including losses), the people (teammates, family, community), and you (the stuff that makes you a person, not a position).
• Reply to comments. Engagement is the number businesses actually look at, and conversation is what drives it.
• Never buy followers. A fake audience is obvious in the comments, and it marks you permanently as someone who fakes numbers.

If you want the posting system that survives a season, read The In-Season Content System.

Step 4: Build a one-page media kit

This single page is what separates you from every athlete sending "let's work 🤝" into a business's DMs. Keep it to one page — a PDF or a simple link — with:

• Who you are: name, sport, position, school, class year, and your story in three sentences.
• Your reach: follower counts per platform, typical engagement per post, and your audience's location if your analytics show it. Local percentage is your strongest number — lead with it.
• Proof: screenshots of three or four of your best-performing posts.
• What you offer: a short menu. One feed post. A three-story set. An in-store appearance. A photo shoot they can use in their own marketing.
• Contact: your email, and your parent's if they help manage deals.

Even if your numbers are small, having this document makes you look like a professional — and professionalism is most of what a local business is buying.

Step 5: Pitch local, pitch specific

Your first NIL deal is almost never a national brand. It's a business within a few miles of your school: restaurants, gyms, car dealerships, barbershops, training facilities, apparel shops, orthodontists, local banks.

Start with businesses you actually use. Authenticity isn't just an ethic here, it's leverage — "I eat here every Friday after practice" is a real reason for them to say yes.

Keep the pitch short and make it about their business, not yours:

Hi [name] — I'm [your name], [position] on the [school] [team], class of [year]. I've been coming to [business] since [when], and a lot of my [X] followers are right here in [town]. I'd love to do [one specific idea — a gameday meal post, a training series filmed at your gym, an appearance during your Saturday rush]. One-page media kit attached if you want the numbers. Open to talking?

One concrete idea beats "I'm open to anything," every time. Send it to ten businesses, expect two replies, and follow up once after a week. That's a normal, healthy conversion rate — not a rejection.

Step 6: Read the agreement before you sign

Once someone says yes, slow down. Even a small deal should be written down, and someone who isn't you should read it. Look for:

• What you owe, exactly: how many posts, on which platforms, by what date, and who approves them.
• What you're paid, and when.
• Exclusivity: does this stop you from working with any competitor? For how long?
• Usage rights: can they use your photos and video in their ads, on billboards, forever? For a small deal, usage should be limited in time and scope.
• How to get out: what happens if you transfer, get injured, or the business folds.

A parent or guardian will generally need to sign, since minors usually can't enter binding contracts on their own. Have your AD confirm the deal is compliant. And when the money gets meaningful, get an attorney — Stryve isn't a law firm and neither is a group chat.

You're also allowed to say no. A deal that locks you up for a year in exchange for a gift card is a bad trade.

Step 7: Deliver like a professional

The first deal is an audition for every deal after it.

• Post on time, exactly what you agreed to.
• Disclose properly. Use #ad and your platform's paid-partnership tool. Disclosure is an FTC expectation, not a suggestion, and businesses notice who handles it correctly.
• Send receipts. A few days after the post runs, screenshot your analytics — reach, engagement, saves — and email a short recap. Almost no high school athlete does this. The ones who do get re-booked and referred.
• Overdeliver once. One extra story, one better photo than promised. It costs you nothing and it's the thing they'll mention to the next business owner.

Local business owners talk to each other. That's the real distribution channel for your first three deals.

What this is actually building

The money in a high school NIL deal is usually small. That's fine — it isn't the point. The point is that you finish high school with an audience, a track record, and a reputation for being easy to work with. Athletes who arrive on a college campus with that already built don't wait around for a collective to notice them.

And if none of this ever turns into a dollar, you still end up with the thing that decides most of it anyway: a personal brand people remember.

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This is the free game. When you're ready to build it with a team behind you — that's Stryve.

This article is general information, not legal advice. NIL rules vary by state and change often. Confirm current rules with your state high school athletic association and your school, and consult an attorney before signing a contract.

Frequently asked questions

Can high school athletes get NIL deals?

In most states, yes. The majority of state high school athletic associations now permit some form of name, image, and likeness compensation, though the rules differ significantly by state and continue to change. Always confirm the current rules with your state association and your athletic director before signing anything.

How many followers do you need to get an NIL deal?

There is no minimum. Local businesses regularly work with athletes who have a few hundred to a few thousand followers, because those followers are actual customers in their area. Engagement and local relevance matter far more than total follower count.

How much do high school NIL deals pay?

First deals are usually small — often product, gift cards, or a few hundred dollars for a post or an appearance. The value is in building a track record and a reputation for delivering, which is what leads to larger deals later.

Do NIL deals affect high school eligibility?

They can, if you break your state's rules — most commonly by using school or team logos and uniforms, or by promoting prohibited categories. Get every deal reviewed by your athletic director before you agree to it.

Do you need a parent to sign an NIL contract if you're under 18?

Generally yes. Minors typically cannot enter binding contracts on their own, so a parent or guardian signature is usually required. Have an adult review the agreement, and get a lawyer involved when real money is at stake.