— NIL Rules · West
College and high-school name, image & likeness rules for Colorado (CO) — at a glance, in plain English. Not legal advice; confirm with a compliance office before acting.
At a glance
College NIL: Legal (state law). High-school NIL: Allowed, per State NIL law + CHSAA (HS). NIL collectives: operating. Deal-disclosure threshold: $600. Governing statute: Colorado SB 20-123 (as amended by HB 25-1041) (C.R.S. § 23-16-301 et seq.), amended, effective January 2023. High-school governance: Colorado High School Activities Association (CHSAA). Last reviewed October 2026 — this is a plain-English overview pending verification, not legal advice.
What to know
Colorado was an early NIL-law state and permits college athletes to monetize their name, image, and likeness, including direct compensation from schools since HB 25-1041. CHSAA permits high-school NIL under guardrails that keep school branding and boosters out of the arrangement, though check the current bylaw book since CHSAA retouched this language for 2025-26. Several Colorado schools' donor-funded collectives have wound down in favor of in-house revenue-sharing programs, following national House-settlement trends — confirm current arrangements with the specific athletic department.
Colorado was one of the first states to pass a college NIL law. SB 20-123, signed in March 2020 with a delayed start date, took effect January 1, 2023 and is codified at C.R.S. § 23-16-301 et seq. As of October 2026, college NIL in Colorado runs on that statute, as amended by HB 25-1041, plus NCAA rules and the House v. NCAA settlement framework. High school NIL is a separate track: it is governed by the CHSAA's amateur bylaws (Article 20 of its Constitution and Bylaws), not by the state statute.
The statute is written as a list of things schools and athletic associations may not do, plus a few duties for athletes.
CHSAA's amateur bylaws, found in Article 20 of its Constitution and Bylaws (Rules 2000.1 through 2000.8), reportedly allow a Colorado high schooler to benefit from their own name, image and likeness, as long as the NIL activity is not connected to their CHSAA school, team, or activity program. CHSAA retouched the language of these rules for the 2025-26 school year to clarify, rather than change, the boundary between a student's own personal NIL activity and anything that touches school branding — so the exact bylaw numbering can shift year to year. Always check the current bylaw book rather than relying on a cached number.
As of October 2026, a Colorado college athlete can sign endorsement, social media, and appearance deals, and may also receive revenue-sharing or direct compensation from their school under HB 25-1041. Athletes should tell their athletic director within 72 hours of signing a deal and, under the NCAA/House settlement framework, report third-party deals of 600 dollars or more through the NIL Go clearinghouse at participating schools. A Colorado high schooler can reportedly take NIL deals too, as long as nothing in the deal uses the school's uniform, logo, name, or other school property. None of this is legal advice; the rules keep moving, so confirm current terms with a compliance office or the school's athletic director.
HB 25-1041, signed March 28, 2025, rewrote parts of the 2020 law to line Colorado up with the House v. NCAA settlement: an institution or athletic association may now compensate a student athlete directly for NIL, the old ban on deals that conflict with a team contract was repealed, and coverage extends to individuals eligible to compete, not just enrolled athletes. The 2025 law also requires institutions to report gender- and sport-based NIL spending to the state annually, while exempting athletes' identifying information from open-records requests. On the ground, several Colorado programs have shifted away from donor-funded third-party collectives toward in-house revenue-sharing: CU Boulder wound down its 5430 Alliance collective in 2025, pointing boosters instead toward direct athletic-department giving and the university's own NIL Exchange, a pattern seen at other Power Four programs navigating the settlement era and IRS scrutiny of collectives.
Go deeper
Compare Colorado with every other state in the NIL Rules by State tracker, estimate your take-home on NIL income with the free NIL Tax Calculator, and see what your name, image, and likeness is actually worth with HDBND's free athlete tools.