A Wyoming bill to keep name, image, and likeness money and pro-sports payouts out of high school sports is now law after Gov. Mark Gordon signed it Tuesday. Gordon said it's a commonsense measure after what's happened to college sports.
A Wyoming bill to keep name, image, and likeness (NIL) money out of high school sports is now law after Gov. Mark Gordon signed it Tuesday.
Brought by former University of Wyoming offensive lineman Sen. Gary Crum, R-Laramie, the law cements a Wyoming High School Athletics Association policy that keeps sanctioned high school sports amateur.
Gordon had three choices on Tuesday: Veto the bill as a sign of rejection, let it become law without his signature as a sign of reluctant consent, or sign it as a gesture of approval.
He chose to sign it.
“Given the changes happening in college athletics, this bill is a commonsense measure to protect high school athletics in Wyoming,” Gordon said in a text-message sent through his spokeswoman.
Crum did not respond by publication to a request for comment.
He told Cowboy State Daily prior, however, that he wished to stop the spread of NIL and other revenues collegiate athletes can now receive before they impact Wyoming’s high schools.
High school athletics, Crum said, exist as an educational opportunity to teach a young person to be part of a team, to learn competitiveness, to learn to get back up when you get knocked down, and to learn dependability.
“(The law) keeps an athlete from a small school, say in my district out by Rock River, that’s a really good athlete, from somebody in a bigger town paying that athlete — say, ‘Hey, come to town and we’ll give you a car. We’ll give you 10,000 bucks to come to town and play for our school,’” Crum said.
“I just don’t see that being what high school sports is all about,” he added. “It’s about working as a team, working with the young people you grew up with from when you were in kindergarten all the way through. It’s not about making money off of high school.”
The law prevents participants from getting paid to compete while representing a Wyoming high school in a WHSAA-sanctioned sport.
“It does not eliminate awards, trophies, travel, food, participation, anything that a junior national team or Olympic committee would provide through funding,” Crum added.
Clair McFarland can be reached at clair@cowboystatedaily.com and David Madison can be reached at david@cowboystatedaily.com.
