The law
Mississippi's college NIL law is Miss. Code Ann. §§ 37-97-101 to 37-97-109 (status: in force). Everything on this page is taken from the enacted text on the legislature's own site, linked under Sources, read on October 21, 2026.
What it says
| Question | What the statute says | Section or source |
|---|---|---|
| Who is covered | A "student-athlete" is anyone enrolled in, or who has signed a National Letter of Intent or other written agreement to enroll in, a postsecondary educational institution, or who is being recruited by one, to take part in an intercollegiate athletics program; a permanently ineligible athlete is not covered for that sport. "Postsecondary educational institution" means a public university or community college or a private university or college. Since 2025-07-01 the deal-termination rule also reaches athletes who have given notice of intent to transfer | 37-97-103(d), (e); 37-97-107(1) |
| Disclosure to the school | Before an agreement with a third party for the use of the athlete's publicity rights is entered into, and before any pay is provided, a school "may require" an athlete enrolled there, or who has signed an athletics financial aid agreement, to disclose the agreement or its terms to a designated official in a manner the school prescribes. No number of days is set. From 2021-07-01 to 2024-04-18 the statute itself required disclosure | 37-97-105(4) |
| Banned categories | No enrolled athlete may enter a publicity rights agreement or take third-party pay for endorsing or promoting gambling, sports betting, controlled substances, marijuana, tobacco, alternative or electronic nicotine products, alcohol or adult entertainment, or anything reasonably considered inconsistent with the school's values or mission or that, in the school's sole judgment, reflects adversely on the school or its athletic programs. This ban is written into the statute itself, not left to a school policy | 37-97-107(7) |
| Conflicts with team contracts | A third party may not enter, or offer, a publicity rights agreement, or otherwise pay an athlete, if a provision of the agreement or the use conflicts with a contract, rule, regulation, standard or other requirement of the school where the athlete is enrolled or intends to enroll, unless the school expressly approves it in writing. A school may set reasonable limits on the dates and times of NIL activities, controls use of its marks and the athlete's apparel and gear during team activity, and may bar third-party logos during program activity. Use of school marks needs the school's written permission before signing, and the school may be paid for it | 37-97-107(2) to (6) |
| School and coach involvement | A school and any officer, trustee or employee may identify, create, solicit, facilitate, negotiate, support, assist and otherwise enable NIL opportunities, including discussing an athlete's NIL potential if the athlete attends, provided they do not take pay from the athlete for it, try to influence the athlete's choice of professional representation, or in bad faith reduce opportunities from competing third parties. An association may not stop or penalize a school for using a third party to do this | 37-97-105(2); 37-97-109(2)(b) |
| Direct pay from the school | Since 2025-07-01 a school "shall have the right to", directly or through an agreement with a third party, share a portion of its athletics-related revenue (ticket sales, game guarantees, media rights, NCAA and conference distributions, royalties, licensing, advertisement and sponsorships, and football bowl games, as listed in the NCAA's 2024 revenue categories) with an athlete, or pay the athlete for publicity rights. No State General Fund appropriations may be used. The statute sets no dollar cap | 37-97-103(h), (i); 37-97-105(1); 37-97-107(9) |
| Agents and attorneys | Under the Uniform Athlete Agents Act, an "agency contract" includes authorizing someone to negotiate or solicit pay for the athlete's publicity rights, and may not give the agent more than 20% of the agency contract. Agents register with the Secretary of State ($200, two years); an unregistered individual may act as an agent, except signing an agency contract, only if an application is filed within 7 days after the first act, and an agency contract resulting from a violation is void. The contract carries a printed warning, the agent and athlete each notify the athletic director within 72 hours or before the next athletic event, and the athlete may cancel within 14 days. A spouse, parent, sibling, grandparent or guardian is not an athlete agent. A school's right to arrange NIL opportunities is conditioned on not trying to influence the athlete's choice of professional representation. The 2021 rule that attorneys be licensed in Mississippi was removed in 2024 | 73-42-3(a), (b); 73-42-7(1) to (3); 73-42-11(7); 73-42-17; 73-42-19; 73-42-21; 73-42-23; 37-97-105(2)(b) |
| High school and minors | The chapter covers college athletes, including recruits and signees, not high school NIL. Anyone 18 or older has capacity to enter binding publicity rights contracts as a college athlete and may sue and be sued as an adult on them; no parental-consent rule is set for athletes under 18. HB 1400 (2026), a high school NIL bill, died in committee on 2026-02-03 | 37-97-103(e); 93-19-17 |
| Financial literacy | Not addressed | None |
| Scholarship protection | Not addressed since 2024-04-18. The 2021 act said NIL pay "may not affect" scholarship eligibility and that a grant-in-aid could not be revoked or reduced for NIL pay or representation (former 37-97-107(1), (9)); SB 2417 removed both | SB 2417 (2024), s. 4 |
| Confidentiality of contracts | Agreements and proposed agreements under the act, and any documents that compile, summarize or disclose their terms, are exempt from the Mississippi Public Records Act of 1983. The 2024 sentence that schools and athletes could not be compelled to disclose agreements to an association was removed by SB 2517 on 2025-07-01. SB 2044 (2026), which would have made agreements confidential with damages for disclosure, died in a House committee on 2026-03-03 | 37-97-105(5) |
| NCAA and conference penalties | A national association, conference or other group with authority over the sport may not enforce any contract term, rule, bylaw, guidance or other requirement that penalizes a school, its program or an athlete for activity the act requires or authorizes; may not stop or penalize a school for using a third party to arrange NIL opportunities; and may not penalize a school because a booster or other supporting entity broke a rule that conflicts with the act | 37-97-109(2)(a) to (c) |
| Remedies and enforcement | A school and its officers, trustees and employees are not liable for damages for adopting or enforcing rules in compliance with the chapter, and immunities are kept. Any person or entity, wherever based, that gives or promises revenue share or NIL pay to an athlete enrolled at or signed with a Mississippi school to induce a transfer, before the athlete has given notice of intent to transfer under association or conference rules, is liable to that school for three times the amount, in a Mississippi state court. Agent violations: school damages action (73-42-31), Secretary of State civil penalty up to $25,000 and cease-and-desist orders (73-42-33, 73-42-34), and a felony (fine up to $10,000, prison up to two years, or both) for conduct barred by 73-42-27, such as inducements, false promises or acting while unregistered (73-42-29). The chapter gives athletes no express cause of action | 37-97-109(1), (3) |
| Employee status | Nothing in the chapter qualifies a student-athlete as an employee of a postsecondary educational institution | 37-97-107(8) |
How Mississippi's law changed, 2021 to 2025
- 2021. SB 2313 took effect 2021-07-01 with market-value pay only, no pay for athletic ability, no school or association pay, mandatory disclosure of every contract to the school, 7 days written notice before signing with an agent or lawyer, and no deals before enrollment.
- 2022. SB 2690, effective on the Governor's signature (2022-04-18), let schools facilitate deals and talk with third parties, dropped the pre-enrollment ban, and barred association penalties on schools for activity the act allows.
- 2024. SB 2417, effective 2024-04-18, renamed the act the Mississippi Intercollegiate Athletics Compensation and Publicity Rights Act and rewrote it: schools and their staff may build and negotiate deals and may pay for publicity rights to the extent legally enforceable association rules allow, disclosure became the school's choice, records left the Public Records Act, the bars on association penalties were widened, and an anti-poaching rule appeared. It also removed the scholarship protection, the 7-day notice and the Mississippi-attorney rule. The same act capped agent pay at 20% in the Uniform Athlete Agents Act.
- 2025. SB 2517, effective 2025-07-01, gave schools the right to share athletics-related revenue and added treble damages for luring a Mississippi athlete to transfer.
The 2026 session
No NIL bill became law in 2026. SB 2044 passed the Senate on 2026-02-11 and would have made NIL agreements confidential with damages and agent sanctions for disclosure; it died in the House Accountability, Efficiency, Transparency Committee on 2026-03-03. HB 4014, which would have excluded NIL compensation from state gross income, passed the House on 2026-02-25 and died in the Senate Finance Committee on 2026-03-17. HB 1400 (high school NIL) and two agent bills, SB 2682 and SB 2683, died in committee on 2026-02-03.
Agents in Mississippi
Mississippi's agent law is the Uniform Athlete Agents Act, Miss. Code 73-42-1 et seq., run by the Secretary of State (73-42-5). Before an agent or the agent's staff makes a first contact with an athlete or the athlete's family to solicit an agency contract, the agent gives the athlete's school written notice of the planned contact (73-42-21(1)). The contract's printed warning says signing may cost eligibility "unless this contract is serving as a publicity rights agreement pursuant to Section 37-97-103" (73-42-19(3)). Registration applications are public records (73-42-9(1)), and an agency contract from an unregistered agent is void, with any consideration returned (73-42-7(3)).
Alongside NIL Go
The state disclosure rule is the school's option (37-97-105(4)). Separately, the NCAA's NIL page says Division I athletes report third-party NIL deals worth $600 or more in NIL Go, the College Sports Commission's platform, with a five-business-day requirement for new or changed deals. That is an NCAA rule, not Mississippi law. The state statute does not mention NIL Go or the College Sports Commission; 37-97-109(2) bars any association, conference or similar group from penalizing a school or athlete for activity the act authorizes.
How it changed
| Act | What it did | Effective |
|---|---|---|
| SB 2313 (2021 Regular Session, Laws 2021 ch. 444, approved 2021-04-16) | enacted the Mississippi Intercollegiate Athletics Compensation Rights Act (37-97-101 to 37-97-109): athletes may earn market-value NIL pay and hire a registered agent or a Mississippi-licensed attorney; schools and associations barred from paying athletes; mandatory disclosure of contracts to the school; 7 days written notice before a representation agreement; scholarship protection; no NIL deals before enrollment; banned categories; added NIL to the agent act's "agency contract" (73-42-3); new 93-19-17 (capacity to contract at 18) | 2021-07-01 |
| SB 2690 (2022 Regular Session, Laws 2022 ch. 455, approved 2022-04-18) | moved the act to "publicity rights", let schools facilitate NIL opportunities and talk with third parties, barred association penalties on schools for activity the act allows, dropped the bar on deals before enrollment, and added to the agent contract warning (73-42-19) that eligibility may be lost "unless this contract is serving as a name, image and likeness agreement pursuant to Section 37-97-103"; kept the bar on school pay, mandatory disclosure, the 7-day notice and the Mississippi-attorney rule | 2022-04-18 (on passage) |
| SB 2417 (2024 Regular Session, Laws 2024 ch. 378, approved 2024-04-18) | renamed it the Mississippi Intercollegiate Athletics Compensation and Publicity Rights Act and rewrote 37-97-103 to 37-97-109: schools, officers and employees may arrange NIL opportunities and pay athletes for publicity rights to the extent consistent with legally enforceable association or conference rules; disclosure became something the school "may require"; contracts made public-records exempt; association penalty bars (37-97-109(2)); anti-poaching rule (37-97-109(3)); removed the scholarship-protection, 7-day representation-notice and Mississippi-attorney subsections of 37-97-107; capped agent pay at 20% of the agency contract and amended 73-42-3, -5, -11, -13, -19 (warning now names a "publicity rights agreement"), -21, -31 and -34; conformed 93-19-17 | 2024-04-18 (on passage) |
| SB 2517 (2025 Regular Session, Laws 2025 ch. 506, approved 2025-04-23) | schools may share "athletics-related revenue" or pay for publicity rights, directly or through a third party (37-97-105(1)); defined athletics-related revenue by the 2024 NCAA revenue categories; covered athletes who have given notice of intent to transfer; no State General Fund money for revenue sharing; treble damages and a Mississippi forum for inducing an athlete at a Mississippi school to transfer (37-97-109(3)); removed the sentence that schools and athletes may not be compelled to disclose agreements to an association | 2025-07-01 |
Federal law
As of 2026-10-21, S. 4668 (Protect College Sports Act) passed the Senate 77-22 on 2026-09-28 and has been held at the House desk since 2026-10-05, with no House action; it is not law. If enacted as passed, § 121(a)(2) covers state laws that govern, regulate or invalidate school, conference or association rules on NIL compensation, transfers or eligibility, and § 121(a)(1) covers state laws that conflict with the title so as to prevent compliance. On its text, § 121(a)(2) describes Mississippi's bars on association enforcement and penalties (37-97-109(2)(a) to (c)). The anti-poaching rule in 37-97-109(3) concerns transfers, a subject § 121(a)(2)(B) names and § 117 gives to association recruitment and tampering rules, so whether it survives is a question the bill's text does not settle. School revenue sharing and NIL pay under 37-97-105(1) match § 101(c), subject to the revenue share cap in § 114. § 121(b)(1) keeps, except where they conflict with § 121(a), Uniform Athlete Agent Acts (Mississippi's is Miss. Code 73-42-1 et seq.) and state contract, privacy and consumer protection law, which takes in 93-19-17 and, arguably, the public-records exemption in 37-97-105(5). § 122 is neutral on employee status (37-97-107(8)). S. 4668 would also add a report to the school and the association's designated entity within 5 days for Division I deals over $600 (§ 101(b)) and a federal 5% cap on agent fees for endorsement contracts (§ 102), well under Mississippi's 20% cap in 73-42-3(a).
What sits on top of it
- Division I reporting. Third-party deals of $600 or more go to NIL Go within five business days, whatever the state's own rule (NIL Go, reporting a deal, level by level).
- Your school. A school can set a stricter policy than the statute, and most set the disclosure process.
- Agents. Mississippi's athlete-agent rules are on the state-by-state registration table.
- High school. High school NIL in Mississippi is set by the state's athletic association, not this statute.
- Taxes. NIL taxes in plain words.
How Leave fits
In Leave, every deal thread carries a rules summary for the athlete's state and level, and keeps the contract, its dates and the disclosure deadline that applies. It is a summary, not a ruling; the school and the statute decide. Leave is software, not an agent, and takes 0% of any deal. You decide, you send.
Questions about college NIL law in Mississippi
What is Mississippi's NIL law in 2026?
The Mississippi Intercollegiate Athletics Compensation and Publicity Rights Act, Miss. Code §§ 37-97-101 to 37-97-109. It was enacted by SB 2313 (effective 2021-07-01) and amended by SB 2690 (2022), SB 2417 (2024) and SB 2517 (effective 2025-07-01). It lets Mississippi colleges share athletics revenue with athletes or pay them for NIL, lets schools and their staff arrange deals, bars associations and conferences from penalizing schools or athletes for what the act allows, bans certain deal categories, and exempts deal records from the Public Records Act. No NIL bill passed in the 2026 session.
Can Mississippi colleges pay athletes directly?
Yes, under state law. Since 2025-07-01, 37-97-105(1) gives a Mississippi postsecondary educational institution the right, directly or through a third party, to share a portion of its athletics-related revenue with a student-athlete or pay the athlete for publicity rights. 37-97-107(9) says no State General Fund money may be used for it. The statute sets no amount.
Do I have to tell my school about an NIL deal in Mississippi?
The statute leaves it to the school. 37-97-105(4) says a school "may require" an enrolled athlete, or one who has signed an athletics financial aid agreement, to disclose a third-party agreement or its terms to a designated official before signing and before being paid, in the manner the school sets. Separately, the NCAA's own NIL page says Division I athletes report third-party NIL deals worth $600 or more in NIL Go, the College Sports Commission's platform, with a five-business-day requirement for new or changed deals; that is an NCAA rule, not state law. Disclosed records are exempt from the Public Records Act (37-97-105(5)).
Does Mississippi require an NIL agent to be licensed?
Registered, with the Secretary of State. Since 2021 an agreement authorizing someone to negotiate or solicit NIL pay is an "agency contract" under the Uniform Athlete Agents Act (73-42-3(a)), so the agent registers with the Secretary of State (73-42-7), at $200, for two years (73-42-17, 73-42-11(7)). Since 2024-04-18 an agency contract may not give the agent more than 20% of the contract (73-42-3(a)). The athlete may cancel within 14 days (73-42-23), and both agent and athlete notify the athletic director within 72 hours (73-42-21).
Can a Mississippi NIL deal be ended when an athlete leaves the team?
37-97-107(1) says a third-party publicity rights agreement formed after the athlete signs an athletics financial aid agreement, gives notice of intent to transfer, or while the athlete is competing at a school may be terminated by the athlete or any other party when the athlete's participation in the sport at that school ends. From 2021 to 2024 the statute instead said such a contract could not extend beyond the athlete's participation.
What happens if someone offers NIL money to lure a Mississippi athlete to another school?
37-97-109(3), as amended by SB 2517 effective 2025-07-01, says a person or entity anywhere that gives or promises revenue share or NIL pay to an athlete enrolled at or signed with a Mississippi school, to get the athlete to enroll elsewhere before the athlete has given notice of intent to transfer, is liable to the Mississippi school for three times the amount. The school sues in Mississippi state court, and the offer itself is consent to that court's jurisdiction.
Be your own agent. Leave.
