IHSAA Rule 5-7 Compliance: An NIL Checklist for Indiana Schools

Name, image, and likeness (NIL) deals — which IHSAA Rule 5-7 calls Personal Branding Activities (PBAs) — shift real operational responsibility onto member schools. Not just eligibility enforcement, but education, intake, and ongoing monitoring.

Here's what your school is on the hook for.

What Rule 5-7 permits

A PBA is any activity where a student uses their name, image, or likeness for promotional, endorsement, or commercial purposes. The rule permits it under three conditions: compensation must be unconnected to the athletic program or performance outcomes, the activity must comply with all of Rule 5 (Amateurism), and Rule 6 (Awards, Prizes, Gifts) still applies in full.

What are a school's three core NIL responsibilities?

1. Student reporting intake — the 48-hour rule

Students or their parent/guardian must notify you in writing within 48 hours of entering a PBA agreement or receiving compensation. You need a clear, consistent process for:

• Receiving and logging these notifications
• Confirming they fall inside the 48-hour window
• Flagging incomplete or late reports, since failure to report can create eligibility issues for the student independent of the deal's merits

2. Annual NIL education

Schools must provide annual education on PBA rules to student-athletes, covering compliance expectations and the risks and consequences of violations. This is not a one-time notice — it recurs every year, and it should be documented in case compliance is ever questioned.

3. Monitoring and reporting

Administrators play a critical role in monitoring compliance, providing education, and reporting potential violations. Schools that facilitate or fail to report violations may face institutional penalties under IHSAA enforcement rules. This cuts both ways: active facilitation is a violation, and so is looking the other way on one you know about.

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