Name Image Likeness

Faizon Brandon Lawsuit Gives NIL to All North Carolina High Schoolers

North Carolina will become the fortieth state to allow all high school athletes the right to monetize their NIL.

Noah Henderson

New Hanover took to the practice field Wednesday July 31, 2024 as North Carolina high school football teams started their first week of practice. KEN BLEVINS/STARNEWS
New Hanover took to the practice field Wednesday July 31, 2024 as North Carolina high school football teams started their first week of practice. KEN BLEVINS/STARNEWS / KEN BLEVINS/STARNEWS / USA TODAY NETWORK

All high school athletes in North Carolina will soon be able to participate in NIL after a Wake County judge ruled that the current prohibition on NIL violated state law. Presently, only private school prep athletes in North Carolina could participate in monetizing their publicity rights. A recent lawsuit by the number one overall football prospect in the 2026 class, Faizon Brandon, was the impetus of today’s ruling. Brandon is the quarterback of Grimsley, a public high school, and has announced his commitment to play for Tennessee after graduation. 

The future Vol has suffered injury from the state’s NIL prohibition, as he could enter into lucrative NIL partnerships due to his participation on a public high school football team. The case noted that Brandon was forced to turn down one deal with a national trading card company that would have provided him with tremendous financial compensation. As the NIL collectible industry continues to boom, exclusive NIL rights acquisitions of top high school prospects have become increasingly common for trading card companies to pursue. 

The judge has ordered the current NIL prohibition be replaced with the State Board of Education’s proposed 2025-26 academic year NIL regulations. The change will be effective immediately upon the judicial signature of a written order, which is expected within the following weeks.

As early as this month, North Carolina will become the fortieth state to permit all high school athletes the ability to receive NIL compensation. Prep athletes will be able to enter endorsements that do not utilize school intellectual property or promote expressly listed morally scrupulous industries. 

The change will benefit public high schools by allowing their athletes to be on an equal regulatory footing with those at private schools. Top athletes in North Carolina will no longer be incentivized to enroll in private schools for NIL purposes. 

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Noah Henderson
NOAH HENDERSON

Professor Noah Henderson teaches in the sport management department at Loyola University Chicago. Outside the classroom, he advises companies, schools, and collectives on Name, Image, and Likeness best practices. His academic research focuses on the intersection of law, economics, and social consequences regarding college athletics, NIL, and sports gambling. Before teaching, Prof. Henderson was part of a team that amended Illinois NIL legislation and managed NIL collectives at the nation’s most prominent athletic institutions while working for industry leader Student Athlete NIL. He holds a Juris Doctor from the University of Illinois College of Law in Urbana-Champaign and a Bachelor of Economics from Saint Joseph’s University, where he was a four-year letter winner on the golf team. Prof. Henderson is a native of San Diego, California, and a former golf CIF state champion with Torrey Pines High School. Outside of athletics, he enjoys playing guitar, hanging out with dogs, and eating California burritos. You can follow him on Twitter: @NoahImgLikeness. 

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