— NIL Rules · West
College and high-school name, image & likeness rules for Hawaii (HI) — at a glance, in plain English. Not legal advice; confirm with a compliance office before acting.
At a glance
College NIL: No state law. High-school NIL: Limited, per NCAA policy + House settlement · HHSAA (HS). NIL collectives: operating. Deal-disclosure threshold: Not specified. High-school governance: Hawaii High School Athletic Association (HHSAA). Last reviewed October 2026 — this is a plain-English overview pending verification, not legal advice.
What to know
Hawaii still has no state NIL statute as of October 2026: a funding and framework bill, SB 3263, fell one vote short in the Senate in May 2026, so University of Hawaii athletes operate under NCAA policy and the House settlement alone. The HHSAA's eligibility rules do not expressly address NIL either way, and outside trackers disagree on how to read that silence, so treat high-school NIL as limited and confirm current guidance with your athletic director. Confirm school-specific and association-level policy directly, since statewide guidance remains thin and the legislature is expected to revisit funding next session.
As of October 2026, Hawaii still has no state NIL statute, despite the most serious legislative push yet in the 2026 session. University of Hawaii athletes operate under NCAA rules, the House v. NCAA settlement and university policy, while high school athletes fall under the Hawaii High School Athletic Association's administrative regulations, which do not mention NIL by name.
Because there is no Hawaii law, the operative framework is the House v. NCAA settlement, approved June 6, 2025, plus NCAA policy. Participating schools may share revenue with athletes up to an annual cap reported at roughly 21.3 million dollars for the 2026-27 athletic year, up from about 20.5 million dollars in year one, and third-party NIL deals of 600 dollars or more must be reported to NIL Go, the College Sports Commission clearinghouse, for a valid-business-purpose review. With state funding stalled, UH Manoa athletics instead secured a reported 5 million dollar, five-year private-sector NIL commitment in mid-2026 from local banks, a shipping company and individual donors, rather than the public NIL endowment lawmakers debated.
The HHSAA Administrative Regulations condition eligibility on amateur status but do not expressly mention NIL. The published rule reads:
On the published text, a Hawaii high schooler's NIL deal that does not pay them to compete, use an assumed name, convert an award to cash or sign them to a professional contract is reportedly not an automatic forfeiture. That said, outside trackers of state-by-state high school NIL rules commonly list Hawaii as not clearly permitting monetization, since the HHSAA has never adopted an explicit NIL-permissive policy the way many mainland associations have, so treat the status as limited rather than settled either way. UH athletes should assume full NCAA and settlement rules: qualifying deals go through NIL Go, need a real promotional purpose, and the income is generally taxable.
The 2026 session was Hawaii's most serious NIL push yet. Committees advanced a UH NIL framework bill (HB 2384) in February 2026 and its provisions on athlete protections, independent advisors and transparency were ultimately folded into the Senate's funding vehicle, SB 3263, which carried a June 30, 2030 sunset. SB 3263 passed the House but fell one vote short, 12-11, on final reading in the Senate on May 8-9, 2026, and the companion athlete-agent bill, SB 3261, did not advance either, so the legislature adjourned without enacting an NIL statute. Lawmakers and UH officials have signaled they expect to try again in the next session.
Go deeper
Compare Hawaii 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.