Name, Image and Likeness deals emerge for New York high school athletes

On June 30, 2021, the NCAA changed the ruling on Name, Image, and Likeness as the way in which student-athletes are able to monetize off of themselves. It isn’t only affecting those on a collegiate level, but is currently changing the game in terms of high school athletics. Athletes are signing into NIL deals before they have a driver’s license.

As the executive director of the NYSPHSAA, Robert Zayas was one of the first people to start creating rules for New York high schools on what NIL means for them. Scott Sugar is the athletic director of Fayetteville-Manlius, an athletic powerhouse for high schools in upstate New York. Dave Meluni teaches one of the only NIL courses in the country at Syracuse University. Leo Tallarico and Keegan Lynch are two high school athletes with NIL deals.

High school and college sports are just on the brink of what is to come in terms of NIL, and these individuals may later be recognized as the pioneers in central New York.