Area athletic directors share their thoughts on why the WIAA's NIL proposal failed to pass and what's ahead

The Name, Image and Likeness proposal that failed to pass last month at the WIAA annual meeting is a subject that surely will be revisited, according to area athletic directors.

The Post-Crescent reached out to more than 20 area athletic directors to get their thoughts on why the proposal was voted down 219-170. The ADs were asked if they voted yes or no on the proposal and what they think it will take to pass it in the future.

The feedback had a similar theme that was mostly centered on the timing of the proposal. Many felt it was presented to them with little time to digest it before the vote.

The proposal specified language that would have "allowed student-athletes to engage in promotion and revenue opportunities and activities not associated or identified with their school team, school, conference or the WIAA."

College athletes have been permitted to receive profits from their name, image and likeness since July 2021.

WIAA Executive Director Stephanie Hauser said in a news release that the failed vote does not close the door on NIL.

“We will continue this conversation with our membership in response to the trend across the nation with other high school associations allowing some opportunities for Name, Image, Likeness,” she said. “The annual meeting vote is evidence of the ownership the membership has in the democratic process.

“The WIAA staff provides information, rationale and possible unintended consequences, but it’s ultimately up to each member school to determine how to cast its vote.”

Here is a sampling of comments from ADs who chose to reply. There were several other ADs who chose not to be on record with their vote and comments, but generally had the same feeling of the proposal being a bit rushed and that the topic will reappear soon on the WIAA's agenda for another vote.

Jere Kubuske, Appleton North, and John Miller, Appleton West

"I don't think it passed due to timing. We really only had three weeks to problem-solve all the unanswered questions. Our priorities are to keep students in the center of our decisions and I think as administrators of athletics and activities in our schools, we still had too many unanswered questions to be comfortable voting for the measure at this time. We would be tasked with educating our student-athletes and families, as well as monitoring the agreements for eligibility purposes, and to do that we need to be confident we can provide that guidance.

"I think with more time to get more of our questions answered, I could see more of those no votes becoming a yes.

"I think the biggest challenge for ADs will be the monitoring, but for student-athletes it will be keeping track of these deals and reporting them for tax purposes."

Kelly Wallace, Little Chute

"The NIL amendment was not one the Little Chute Area School District could support at this time. We believe athletics to be an extension of the educational experience and did not feel that NIL fit well into our philosophy of education.

"From speaking to other athletic administrators there were a lot of concerns about the verbiage and implementation of the amendment. Questions surrounding the statute of limitations when it came to financial supporters of a school district and when a student-athlete could engage in an NIL deal with one of those supporters. There were also concerns on whether allowing NIL, as long as there was no connection to school, would further entice student-athletes to pursue outside clubs that may not share the same purpose as we do in education-based athletics. We have seen the landscape of NIL in the NCAA, albeit companied with the transfer portal, not be such a positive addition for collegiate athletics. Finally, many ADs felt ill-prepared to navigate NIL discussions with students and families with the little education we have on the subject with an approximate three-week timeframe.

"Based on the number of other states who have some sort of NIL rule, I do not believe this topic will go away. I am confident the WIAA will reach out to the membership to come up with language that the membership can agree to.

"I have only had a few conversations which our coaching staff but of those I had, they shared the same philosophy that we have at Little Chute Area School District.  We are focused on educating students, and athletics is just a facet for education."

James Finster, Freedom

"As of now I can say I felt underinformed regarding the topic at hand. The WIAA has made it pretty clear that this topic will not be going away and they plan to continue this discussion in the future."

Luke Herriges, Xavier

"I feel the membership wasn't ready for such a potentially drastic change that NIL would bring. Implementation of NIL would have gone into effect in mid-May and I believe ADs did not feel prepared to properly educate their entire communities on the subject. There seemed to be too many questions the WIAA could not answer and these are scenarios that we as athletic directors will encounter. NIL will not go away and I suspect we will be voting on it again next year."

Jeff Capelle, Brillion

"I think there are a lot of questions that many people have about this topic that are currently unanswered of how it will be applied, who monitors it (etc.). From people I have talked with, and the more education provided for school administrators in the future will help any discussion or decisions that could be made in the future. I think it is a challenging topic for schools and will be discussed more in the future."

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Corey Behnke, Chilton

"I voted no for the NIL amendment. This is my 11th year as as the Chilton AD, and this is the first amendment that I remember in which everyone around where I was sitting walked into the meeting open-minded on how they were going to vote. I'm confident it will pass in the future. At no fault to the WIAA, as they have worked tirelessly on getting us information on this amendment, but there were too many questions without answers to feel comfortable yes. The line items that caused the most concern were 2D and 2E of the proposal (under prohibited NIL activities):

"'2D: The compensation is commensurate with market value.' As ADs, how do we know what market value is, and how do we determine if what the athlete gets is commensurate?

"'2E: The compensation is not provided by the school or persons associated with the school. The definition of a person associated included but is not limited to: Current or former coaches, current or former athletes, parents or guardians, caregivers of current or former student/athletes, booster club members, alumni, spouses or relatives of coaches, teachers and other employees, coaches who become employed, active applicants for coaching positions, and persons employed by companies or organizations that have donated monetarily, athletic supplies, equipment, or apparel to that school.': There was just too many what-ifs in this area for me to be comfortable with it. How are we supposed to vet everyone who wants to give NIL money to one of our athletes?

"Being a midsized rural school, I don't worry too much about this being implemented. I would be more concerned if we were in a larger area with many schools for our kids to choose from. Imagine being located in Appleton though, and your business has been a sponsor of Appleton North athletics. Now you can't get NIL money to a student-athlete from Appleton North (the school that you support), but you can give NIL money to a kid from East or West. Being in a position like that would make me nervous.

"And another thought when talking with my coaches: Brillion came up, but the same could probably be applied to Freedom and Southern Door right now. In regards to the 'person associated with the school' line: Schools in small communities rely on local businesses for partnerships on almost everything. When a small school has a generational talent, like a (Jeremy) Lorenz, (Drew) Daoust, or (Donovan) Davis, it would be very difficult to imagine a local business that has not contributed to the school already that would be willing to now give to pay a player like this NIL money. The only way they would be able to profit from their NIL would be to get it from a business in a different community."

This article originally appeared on Appleton Post-Crescent: Appleton area athletic directors speak on WIAA's rejected NIL proposal