— NIL Rules · South
College and high-school name, image & likeness rules for Texas (TX) — 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: Not allowed, per State NIL law (SB 1385 / HB 126) + UIL (HS). NIL collectives: operating. Deal-disclosure threshold: Any deal. Governing statute: Texas SB 1385 (2021), as amended by HB 2804 (2023) and HB 126 (2025) (Tex. Educ. Code § 51.9246), amended, effective July 2021. High-school governance: University Interscholastic League (UIL). Last reviewed September 2026 — this is a plain-English overview pending verification, not legal advice.
What to know
Texas's NIL statute (Tex. Educ. Code §51.9246, originally SB 1385) was substantially amended by HB 126 in 2025, which lets Texas public universities pay athletes directly and use NIL terms in recruiting, aligning state law with the House v. NCAA settlement's revenue-sharing model (schools may share up to roughly $20.5M/year with athletes); it requires disclosure of NIL contracts to the institution before signing, with no dollar floor, and bars deals conflicting with team/institutional contracts or in restricted categories (alcohol, tobacco, gambling, adult content). The UIL still treats ordinary paid NIL deals between a high-schooler and an outside brand or collective as a violation of amateur status — those deals cannot even be executed until the athlete's UIL eligibility is exhausted. A narrower, separate 2025 carve-out tied to HB 126 lets prospects 17 and older sign an NIL agreement directly with a college program before enrolling, but that money cannot be paid out until the athlete is actually enrolled and participating in the college's program; confirm the precise payment-timing language directly with the UIL, since some secondary sources blur these two provisions together. Collectives (e.g., Texas One Fund) remain active and legally permitted at the college level, though several Texas programs are reportedly folding collective activity into school-run revenue sharing post-House-settlement rather than eliminating it; the practical $600 disclosure trigger widely cited in the media comes from the national NIL Go/College Sports Commission clearinghouse, not a Texas-specific statutory figure — confirm current collective structure with a compliance office, as this is evolving quickly nationwide.
Texas college athlete NIL is governed by Tex. Educ. Code § 51.9246, originally enacted as SB 1385 in 2021 and substantially rewritten by HB 126, signed into law in 2025 and effective immediately. HB 126 removed the prior ban on institutions paying or soliciting NIL compensation directly, letting Texas public universities pay athletes and use NIL terms in recruiting — aligning state law with the House v. NCAA settlement's school revenue-sharing model (schools may share roughly $20-22 million per year with athletes).
The UIL continues to treat ordinary NIL deals between a high-schooler and an outside brand, individual, or collective as a violation of amateur status — those agreements cannot even be executed until the athlete has exhausted their UIL eligibility in that sport. A separate, narrower carve-out tied to HB 126 lets prospects 17 or older sign an NIL agreement directly with a postsecondary institution while still competing in high school — but payment cannot start until the athlete actually enrolls and participates in that college's program. Prospects 16 and under, and their family members, may not sign NIL agreements with anyone.
NIL collectives remain legal and active in Texas; Texas One Fund (University of Texas) is the highest-profile example and continues operating in the post-House-settlement environment, though some programs are shifting collective activity to complement direct school revenue-sharing rather than replace it.
Texas statute requires a student-athlete to disclose a proposed NIL contract to their institution before signing, with no dollar-value floor — every deal must be disclosed, not just ones above a threshold. The commonly cited $600 figure is not a Texas statutory number; it is the reporting threshold used by the national NIL Go / College Sports Commission clearinghouse under the House settlement framework.
Go deeper
Compare Texas 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.