NIL Laws · HI

Hawaii

High-school NIL: prohibited. College NIL is addressed by state law alongside the NCAA/House framework. Agent rules below.

High School NIL
Prohibited

The Hawaii High School Athletic Association's amateur rules do not permit NIL compensation for high-school athletes.

Citation · HHSAA amateur-status rules
What This Means

Signing an NIL deal while playing HHSAA sports risks eligibility.

Insight: Island athletes with mainland recruiting attention should build the brand groundwork now and execute deals at college enrollment.
College NIL

Hawaii's NIL law permits college athletes to earn NIL compensation with school-policy guardrails.

Citation · Haw. Rev. Stat. NIL provisions (2021 act)
What This Means

College NIL is lawful in Hawaii; campus policy sets disclosure requirements.

Insight: Travel-heavy schedules make Hawaii athletes attractive for airline and tourism deals — watch usage rights that outlive the season.
Agent Regulations

Hawaii requires athlete agents to register under its Uniform Athlete Agents Act.

Citation · Haw. Rev. Stat. ch. 481E (UAAA)
What This Means

Agents must register before soliciting Hawaii athletes.

Insight: Distance recruiting is the norm here — insist on the registration paperwork precisely because everything happens remotely.
Look Up Registered Agents →

The NCAA & Federal Layer

State law is only half the rulebook. Wherever you play, the NCAA framework reshaped by the House settlement — plus one federal statute on agents — sits on top of your state's rules.

Revenue sharing (House settlement)

Since July 2025, Division I schools that opted into the House v. NCAA settlement may pay athletes directly, capped at roughly 22% of average power-conference athletics revenue — about $20.5M per school in year one, rising annually. Roster limits replaced scholarship limits.

House v. NCAA settlement (N.D. Cal., approved June 6, 2025)
What this means: Your school can now be a counterparty, not just a bystander. Campus revenue-share agreements are real contracts with real obligations.
NIL Go clearinghouse

Third-party NIL deals of $600 or more must be reported through NIL Go, the clearinghouse run by the College Sports Commission with Deloitte, which reviews deals against a fair-market-value standard.

College Sports Commission — NIL Go reporting requirement
What this means: Most real deals must be disclosed and can be flagged. Paper your deals at defensible market value and keep the deliverables documented.
Enforcement

The College Sports Commission — not the NCAA — enforces the settlement's compensation rules for participating schools. Portions of the settlement remain subject to appeal, so details can shift.

College Sports Commission (est. 2025)
What this means: A new regulator with new processes: expect documentation requests, and expect the rules to keep evolving for a few more seasons.
Agents — the federal floor

The federal SPARTA statute prohibits agents from using false promises, providing inducements, or failing to disclose required warnings when recruiting student-athletes — in every state, on top of any state act.

15 U.S.C. §7801 et seq. (SPARTA)
What this means: Even in states with no agent registry, deceptive agent conduct is federally unlawful. There is always a rulebook.

NIL law moves fast. These summaries are educational, current as of July 2026, and are not legal advice — rules cited here change frequently and some remain subject to pending litigation. Confirm the current rule before acting on it, or ask us. Attorney advertising.

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