— NIL Rules · South
College and high-school name, image & likeness rules for North Carolina (NC) — 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 High-school NIL: Allowed, per NCAA policy + House settlement (EO 223 rescinded 2024; SB 229 & SB 563 still pending) · NC State Board of Education rule (16 NCAC 06E .0211) + NCHSAA (HS). NIL collectives: operating. Deal-disclosure threshold: Any deal. High-school governance: North Carolina High School Athletic Association (NCHSAA). Last reviewed September 2026 — this is a plain-English overview pending verification, not legal advice.
What to know
North Carolina still has no state college-NIL statute or executive order — Gov. Cooper's Executive Order 223 remains rescinded since March 2024 — so college athletes' NIL rights rest on NCAA rules and the 2025 House v. NCAA settlement; two 2025-26 session bills, SB 229 (NIL agency contracts, which crossed over into a House committee) and SB 563 (would create a state NIL clearinghouse and a business tax credit), remained pending as of September 2026 and could change this at any time — a separate April 2026 federal executive order pushing Congress toward national NIL legislation is a federal, not a North Carolina, action. High-school NIL is allowed under a State Board of Education rule (16 NCAC 06E .0211) effective July 1, 2025, reinstated after a court ruling in the Brandon v. State Board of Education case reversed a 2024 SBE policy that had banned it; the Board has since proposed technical/clarifying amendments targeted for around July 1, 2026 that don't appear to change what's allowed, but the final adopted text could not be confirmed this pass — confirm current wording with NCDPI or NCHSAA directly. Collectives remain active and legal around UNC, Duke, and NC State at the college level under the national clearinghouse's fair-market-value review; confirm current bill status with the NC General Assembly directly given the fast-moving 2026 session.
North Carolina has no state NIL statute for college athletes. The state's original framework was Executive Order 223, issued by Governor Cooper in July 2021, which set NIL ground rules for the state's colleges; he rescinded it with Executive Order 306 on March 8, 2024, citing the federal court injunction in Tennessee v. NCAA and fast-moving national changes. Since the rescission, each North Carolina university manages NIL under its own policies, NCAA rules, and - since mid-2025 - the House v. NCAA settlement, under which schools can pay athletes directly within the first-year cap of roughly 20.5 million dollars and third-party deals of 600 dollars or more clear the NIL Go clearinghouse. High-school NIL is governed by a State Board of Education rule administered alongside NCHSAA requirements.
The rescission was framed as leveling the field: state-specific limits from the 2021 order no longer bound North Carolina schools while competitors operated without them. As of August 2026, the governing stack for a college athlete in North Carolina is NCAA policy as limited by the courts, the House settlement's revenue-sharing and NIL Go framework, conference rules, and each institution's own NIL policy - there is no separate state disclosure threshold or state prohibited-category list at the college level. Athletes should treat their school's compliance office as the source of truth for what a deal must look like.
High-school NIL arrived by court order. After the legislature moved NIL authority from the NCHSAA to the State Board of Education, the Board initially barred public-school NIL in mid-2024; a Wake County Superior Court injunction in October 2024 required the Board to implement its proposed NIL rules immediately, and the permissive rule - codified at 16 NCAC 06E .0211 and linked from the NCHSAA's NIL page - has governed since. Reported and published requirements include:
A North Carolina college athlete operates under national rules, not state ones: NIL Go review for deals of 600 dollars or more, school revenue sharing under the cap, and institutional policy on marks and conflicts. A North Carolina high schooler - public or private - can earn NIL money as of the 2024-25 school year, but the deal must stay clear of school identity, prohibited categories, and performance-based pay, and the paperwork (parent signature, NFHS course, copies to the school) matters. Private-school athletes in the NCISAA have operated under their own permissive rules since 2024, per reporting.
The State Board's rule reached its current codified form (16 NCAC 06E .0211) after the October 2024 injunction forced early implementation, and litigation over high-school NIL authority shaped the final text. At the college level, North Carolina has so far let the House settlement fill the gap rather than passing a statute; as of August 2026 no replacement executive order or NIL bill has taken effect, so watch the legislature and the State Board for further changes.
Go deeper
Compare North Carolina 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.