Is college NIL legal in Georgia?

Yes — college athletes in Georgia can earn from their name, image, and likeness. Status: Legal (state law). Georgia has its own NIL statute layered on top of NCAA policy and the House settlement. Confirm the current rules with each school's compliance office.

Can high school athletes earn NIL in Georgia?

High-school NIL status in Georgia: Allowed, per State NIL law (O.C.G.A. §20-3-680 et seq.) + GHSA (HS). It's generally permitted under the association's amateurism and recruiting guardrails. This is a general overview, not legal advice.

Do athletes have to disclose NIL deals in Georgia?

The working disclosure threshold here is "Any deal." Under the House settlement, third-party deals at or above $600 at participating schools go to the NIL Go clearinghouse for review; some schools ask for every deal. Confirm your school's exact process.

Is Georgia's 2021 NIL law still in effect for college athletes?

Yes — O.C.G.A. § 20-3-680 et seq. remains active and unamended as of September 2026, including its optional 75% pooling/escrow provision and its disclosure-to-institution requirement. It now operates alongside, not instead of, the national House v. NCAA settlement's revenue-sharing system. Confirm current details with your institution's compliance office, since program-level practice (like UGA's preference for revenue sharing over pooling) can differ from what the statute technically allows.

Can Georgia high school athletes still do NIL deals?

Yes, under GHSA Appendix N, subject to the usual restrictions (no school marks, no pay-for-play, no collectives/NIL clubs, and a 7-day disclosure to the school). A 2026 bill to write similar rules into state law died in the Senate, so GHSA policy — not state statute — is still the sole governing authority for high school NIL in Georgia; verify against the current GHSA Constitution before relying on specifics.

Are NIL collectives banned in Georgia?

Not at the college level — they remain legally permitted, though Georgia's own Classic City Collective closed in 2025 and was replaced by a differently structured entity (Glory Glory) amid a broader national wind-down of nonprofit collectives. At the high school level, GHSA bylaws do prohibit any student-athlete from belonging to or being paid by a collective or 'NIL Club.' Because this is a fast-moving area, confirm the current operating structure directly with the relevant athletic department.

— NIL Rules · South

Georgia NIL Rules

College and high-school name, image & likeness rules for Georgia (GA) — at a glance, in plain English. Not legal advice; confirm with a compliance office before acting.

At a glance

NIL in Georgia today.

College NIL: Legal (state law). High-school NIL: Allowed, per State NIL law (O.C.G.A. §20-3-680 et seq.) + GHSA (HS). NIL collectives: operating. Deal-disclosure threshold: Any deal. Governing statute: Georgia HB 617 (2021) (O.C.G.A. § 20-3-680 et seq.), active, effective July 2021. High-school governance: Georgia High School Association (GHSA). Last reviewed September 2026 — this is a plain-English overview pending verification, not legal advice.

What to know

How the rules play out in Georgia.

Georgia's NIL statute still lets a school require pooling up to 75% of an athlete's NIL pay into a post-graduation escrow account, and requires disclosure of any NIL contract to a designated institution official; as of September 2026 major programs like UGA favor direct revenue-sharing under the 2025 House settlement instead. The September 2024 executive order authorizing direct pay was written to expire once the House settlement took effect (it did, July 1, 2025), so it appears moot in practice, though no formal rescission notice was located. The GHSA still permits basic high-school NIL endorsements (with a 7-day notice to the principal/AD after signing) but bars school-mark use, pay-for-play, and — since a 2024 bylaw amendment — any membership in or payment from an NIL collective or 'NIL Club.' A 2026 bill to codify this into state law (HB 383) passed the House unanimously but died in the Senate Interstate Cooperation Committee when the session adjourned sine die in April 2026, with no revival; it would need to be reintroduced in the 2027-2028 session. College-level disclosure to a Georgia institution has no dollar floor under state law, separate from the national NIL Go clearinghouse's $600 third-party reporting threshold (2026 College Sports Commission guidance narrowed automatic pricing review to deals over $2,500, or cumulative deals over $15,000/year). Traditional booster collectives are shifting structure rather than disappearing: Georgia's own Classic City Collective shut down in summer 2025 and was replaced in February 2026 by 'Glory Glory,' a fan-membership marketing platform deliberately not branded as a collective, operating outside the $20.5M revenue-sharing cap — a pattern seen at several peer programs (Alabama, Notre Dame, Texas) amid nonprofit/tax-risk concerns.

College NIL law (O.C.G.A. § 20-3-680 et seq.)

Georgia's HB 617 (2021) remains active and unamended. It lets a postsecondary institution require athletes to pool up to 75% of their NIL compensation into a school-administered escrow account, released a year after graduation, and requires any student-athlete NIL contract to be disclosed to a designated institution official — with no dollar floor on that disclosure. The statute bars team contracts from preventing athletes from earning NIL compensation outside official team activities, but does not itself create a state revenue-sharing or clearinghouse system — that layer now comes from the national House v. NCAA settlement framework.

The 2024 executive order and the House settlement

In September 2024, Gov. Brian Kemp signed an executive order barring the NCAA or any conference from penalizing Georgia schools for directly compensating athletes for NIL, effective immediately and by its own terms lapsing once Congress acted or the House v. NCAA settlement took effect. The House settlement received final approval in June 2025 and revenue sharing (up to roughly $20.5M per school, effective July 1, 2025) is now live nationally, including at Georgia. That satisfies the order's own sunset trigger, so it appears moot in practice — no explicit rescission notice was located, so treat it as superseded-in-effect rather than formally repealed.

High school NIL under GHSA Appendix N

Georgia high schoolers may earn NIL compensation as long as it isn't tied to athletic performance or enrollment, doesn't use school marks/uniforms/facilities, and doesn't conflict with local district policy on endorsed products. Students must notify their principal or athletic director within seven calendar days of signing any NIL agreement. A 2024 bylaw amendment (passed 14-0) bars any GHSA athlete from belonging to or receiving compensation/benefits from a 'Collective' or 'NIL Club,' defined broadly to cover any group organized to pool or channel NIL money to student-athletes.

The 2026 legislative attempt to codify HS NIL rules

HB 383, the Georgia High School NIL Protection Act, would have written GHSA-style restrictions (no uniforms/logos, automatic contract sunset at graduation, no school-tied compensation) into state statute. It passed the House unanimously but was never taken up by the Senate Interstate Cooperation Committee. The bill died when the 2025-2026 biennium's second session adjourned sine die in April 2026. As of September 2026 there is no companion bill, special-session action, or announced plan to revive it; a fresh bill would be required in the 2027-2028 session.

Collectives and disclosure in practice

Collectives remain legally permitted at the college level in Georgia, but the traditional nonprofit-collective model is being abandoned in favor of for-profit, non-collective marketing entities. Georgia's Classic City Collective shut down in summer 2025 and was replaced by Glory Glory, a fan-membership platform funding 'above-the-cap' NIL activity outside the athletic department's revenue-sharing pool — following the same path as several peer programs' collectives. Disclosure works on two tracks: Georgia law requires disclosure of any NIL contract to the institution, while the national NIL Go clearinghouse (College Sports Commission) requires reporting of third-party deals worth $600 or more, with review scrutiny escalating at $2,500 and $15,000 thresholds under 2026 guidance.

Go deeper

Compare states, then run your numbers.

Compare Georgia 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.

Frequently asked questions

Is college NIL legal in Georgia?: Yes — college athletes in Georgia can earn from their name, image, and likeness. Status: Legal (state law). Georgia has its own NIL statute layered on top of NCAA policy and the House settlement. Confirm the current rules with each school's compliance office.
Can high school athletes earn NIL in Georgia?: High-school NIL status in Georgia: Allowed, per State NIL law (O.C.G.A. §20-3-680 et seq.) + GHSA (HS). It's generally permitted under the association's amateurism and recruiting guardrails. This is a general overview, not legal advice.
Do athletes have to disclose NIL deals in Georgia?: The working disclosure threshold here is "Any deal." Under the House settlement, third-party deals at or above $600 at participating schools go to the NIL Go clearinghouse for review; some schools ask for every deal. Confirm your school's exact process.
Is Georgia's 2021 NIL law still in effect for college athletes?: Yes — O.C.G.A. § 20-3-680 et seq. remains active and unamended as of September 2026, including its optional 75% pooling/escrow provision and its disclosure-to-institution requirement. It now operates alongside, not instead of, the national House v. NCAA settlement's revenue-sharing system. Confirm current details with your institution's compliance office, since program-level practice (like UGA's preference for revenue sharing over pooling) can differ from what the statute technically allows.
Can Georgia high school athletes still do NIL deals?: Yes, under GHSA Appendix N, subject to the usual restrictions (no school marks, no pay-for-play, no collectives/NIL clubs, and a 7-day disclosure to the school). A 2026 bill to write similar rules into state law died in the Senate, so GHSA policy — not state statute — is still the sole governing authority for high school NIL in Georgia; verify against the current GHSA Constitution before relying on specifics.
Are NIL collectives banned in Georgia?: Not at the college level — they remain legally permitted, though Georgia's own Classic City Collective closed in 2025 and was replaced by a differently structured entity (Glory Glory) amid a broader national wind-down of nonprofit collectives. At the high school level, GHSA bylaws do prohibit any student-athlete from belonging to or being paid by a collective or 'NIL Club.' Because this is a fast-moving area, confirm the current operating structure directly with the relevant athletic department.

Sources

O.C.G.A. § 20-3-681 — Compensation of athlete for use of name, image, or likeness — Justia (Georgia Code)
Appendix N — Guidelines Regarding Name, Image and Likeness — Georgia High School Association
Georgia HB 383 (Georgia High School NIL Protection Act) — bill history — LegiScan
Georgia Allows Schools to Directly Pay Athletes for NIL — Sportico
Georgia announces Glory Glory third-party NIL initiative — On3
Rules resulting from House settlement finalized and enforced by College Sports Commission — NIL Newsstand
GHSA approves amendment on 'NIL Clubs' at Board of Trustees meeting — Moultrie Observer