Since a landmark Supreme Court decision in 2021 that opened the door for college athletes to profit off their name, image and likeness, debate about athlete endorsements has dominated college sports.
College athletes aren’t the only ones to profit since the Supreme Court’s ruling in NCAA v. Alston. High school athletes also are scoring deals, a development supported by a small majority of Americans.
The Shirley Povich Center for Sports Journalism at Philip Merrill College of Journalism at the University of Maryland, in collaboration with the university’s Center for Democracy and Civic Engagement and the Washington Post, conducted a national poll of 1,584 adults. The online poll from August 17-23 probed attitudes about high school athletes and athletes before high school profiting from endorsements.
The poll found that 54% of respondents believe that high school athletes should be allowed to earn money through endorsement deals. Only 40% of respondents believe that youth athletes before high school should earn money from endorsing products or services.
Black respondents were more likely to favor high school and youth athletes profiting from endorsements; 73% of Black respondents supported high school athletes earning money from endorsements; 60% were in favor of youth athletes profiting from them.
Hispanic Americans also overwhelmingly favored high school athletes profiting from NIL deals. Seventy-four percent of Hispanic participants approved of high school athletes being paid for endorsements. A small majority of 56% supported youth athletes making endorsements.
Though NIL deals are more common among college players, several top earners signed their first deals as high school students. Top basketball recruits Bronny James and Juju Watkins were seniors at Sierra Canyon High School last year when they signed with Nike. Seven athletes on On3.com’s top 100 NIL valuation list are high school students.
Joshua Horowitz, a real estate broker from Long Beach, New York, has seen both college and high school students endorse products or services. He believes that all athletes, including high school and youth athletes, should be compensated for endorsement deals.
“If you’re endorsing a product, you should be reimbursed. It’s not free, right?” Horowitz said.
Sara Turnure, a barista from New Jersey, has never seen an athlete, college or high school-aged, endorse a product or service. She supports high school athletes making endorsement deals but not youth athletes, who she believes shouldn’t be making endorsement deals at all.
“I don’t think they’re…old enough to make a decision like that when they’re that young,” Turnure said.
The percentage of respondents who approve of young athletes signing endorsement deals decreased among older groups. Just 36% of respondents over 65 favor high school athletes signing endorsement deals compared to 73% for those between 18 and 29.
Among Democrats, 62% supported endorsement deals for high school players compared to only 41% for Republicans.
The poll also found differences in responses based on geography. Sixty-three percent of Americans in Urban areas are in favor of high school athletes earning endorsement money, which is more than 10 percent greater than the percentage of participants in rural and suburban areas.
Respondents who live in the Northeast were also more supportive of NIL in high school sports than other regions. The Midwest was the least supportive region, with less than half of Americans in favor.