The Michigan High School Athletic Association (MHSAA) passed a law on Jan. 27, 2026 that will allow high school athletes in the state of Michigan to earn money for Personal Branding Activities (PBA), which includes endorsements, appearances and social media promotions.
Under this law, high school athletes cannot earn pay-to-play compensation, use school logos and must abide by restrictions on donors, keeping all branding unassociated with schools. Cross country coach and science teacher Shawn McNamara has mixed opinions on this new policy. With PBA being completely separate from schools, it attempts to keep all aspects of sports team-centered, yet there are still some gray areas.
“Personally, I think it could be a great opportunity, but what I think it really does is draw away from the team aspect,” McNamara said. “The MHSAA has laid out some good guidelines; I think the tough part is going to be enforcing them.”
Girls’ field hockey player Maeve Shine believes PBA will have a negative impact on high school sports, and may encourage students to leave their communities to go to private schools for a few extra dollars in endorsements.
“I think this makes it too professional at such a young age; I don’t think high school sports should be commercialized,” Shine said. “People won’t actually stick to loyalty, I think they will just go wherever they can get the most money.”
Athletic director Andy Rishmawi does not believe this new law will impact most high school student athletes, but rather only the top one percent of athletes, and even then, to a certain extent.
“I think the way they have it set up, ‘the rich get richer the poor get poorer’ type of thing,” Rishmawi said. “I like the idea, but the way they have it set up I don’t think is the best idea.”
Rishmawi stated the future of high school sports lands in the hands of how MHSAA will police the new law. Continuing McNamara’s concerns, Rishmawi agrees that sports grow connections, and PBA could potentially destroy team unity as a whole.
“I am really worried about [individualizing the sport],” Rishmawi said. “The team aspect is the most important thing; the skills you learn through athletics you don’t get to learn anywhere else.”
