Maine NIL Rules

At a glance

NIL in Maine today.

College NIL: Legal (state law). High-school NIL: Allowed, per State NIL law + MPA (HS). NIL collectives: operating. Deal-disclosure threshold: Not specified. Governing statute: Maine LD 1893 (SP 663), An Act Regarding the Use of a Student Athlete's Name, Image, Likeness or Autograph (P.L. 2021, c. 544) (20-A M.R.S. §§ 12971-12974 (ch. 443)), active, effective August 2022. High-school governance: Maine Principals' Association (MPA). Last reviewed August 2026 — this is a plain-English overview pending verification, not legal advice.

What to know

How the rules play out in Maine.

Maine has an NIL framework permitting college athletes to earn from their name, image, and likeness. The Maine Principals' Association has generally allowed high-school NIL within its eligibility rules. Activity is smaller-scale statewide; rely on each school's compliance office for disclosure specifics.

Who governs NIL in Maine

Maine's college NIL law is LD 1893, enacted as Public Law 2021, chapter 544 and codified as chapter 443 of Title 20-A (sections 12971 through 12974). Governor Mills signed it March 31, 2022; the chaptered text carries no emergency clause, so under Maine's default rule it took effect about 90 days after the session adjourned, in early August 2022, though some NIL guides list the signing date as the effective date. High-school NIL is governed separately by the Maine Principals' Association, whose Name, Image, and Likeness Policy (Handbook Appendix DD) was adopted April 28, 2022.

What 20-A M.R.S. ch. 443 actually says

The chapter's key rules, from the codified text:

• § 12972: a college or university may not prohibit or otherwise prevent a student athlete from earning compensation for the use of the student athlete's name, image or likeness when the student athlete is not engaged in official team activities.
• § 12972: schools may not prevent athletes from obtaining professional representation, including representation by an attorney, for NIL contracts.
• § 12972: NIL earnings or professional representation cannot disqualify an athlete from receiving a full athletic scholarship.
• § 12972: institutions may still establish conditions for NIL monetization, including restrictions on use of school trademarks, logos and facilities and on conduct violations — so campus policy still shapes what a compliant deal looks like.
• § 12973: a student athlete may earn compensation from selling the student athlete's autograph in a manner that does not otherwise conflict with the chapter.
• § 12974: an athletic association, conference or other organization with authority over intercollegiate athletics (such as the NCAA) may not prevent a Maine college from participating in intercollegiate athletics because its athletes are compensated for NIL.

High-school rules

MPA Handbook Appendix DD states that a student-athlete may profit from the use of their own name, image, and likeness, with permissible activities including commercial endorsements, promotional activities, social media presence, and product or service advertisements.

• No one employed by a member school — coaches, teachers, administrators — may be involved with a student-athlete's use of the NIL.
• Athletes are prohibited from making any reference to a member school or the MPA in any NIL activity, may not endorse third parties during team activities, and may not wear the apparel or display the logo, insignia or identifying mark of an NIL partner during any team activities.
• Prohibited categories: adult entertainment products and services; alcohol; tobacco; cannabis; controlled dangerous substances; prescription pharmaceuticals; casinos and gambling including sports betting, the lottery and betting tied to video games; and weapons, firearms and ammunition.
• The policy was adopted April 28, 2022 and appears as Appendix DD of the current MPA Handbook.

The practical read

A Maine college athlete can take paid deals, sell autographs and hire a lawyer without losing a scholarship, but the deal has to live outside official team activities and inside campus rules on marks and facilities — the statute deliberately leaves schools room to set conditions. A Maine high schooler can monetize their brand, but only with the school completely out of frame: no school or MPA references, no partner gear at team events, and none of the restricted categories. In practice, reported Maine high-school NIL activity remains modest.

What's moving

The statute has not been materially amended since enactment. The bigger changes for Maine athletes as of August 2026 come from the national layer: the House v. NCAA settlement's revenue-sharing and clearinghouse regime for larger deals, and the April 2026 executive order pushing national NIL standards over the state-by-state patchwork. Maine's § 12974, which bars associations from punishing schools over athlete NIL pay, reads as friendly to that new world, but no Maine-specific implementing legislation has been reported.

Go deeper

Compare states, then run your numbers.

Compare Maine 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.