Name, Image, Likeness (NIL), the three most important words in modern college and high school athletics, will now be relevant at Seattle Prep. NIL has become an increasingly important term in recent years and is used to describe brand deals made by college and high school athletes.
The school announced today that NIL money will be evenly distributed to every Seattle Prep varsity athlete beginning with the 2025-26 academic year. Seattle Prep made the decision to guarantee NIL money to athletes to tempt more athletic talent to come to the school as its athletic programs transition to the Southeastern Conference (SEC). The SEC is considered the top athletic conference in the country, which made the decision necessary to allow Prep to continue competing for championships. School leaders and coaches have already started making NIL offers to recruit top NCAA Division I talent to Panther athletics.
To facilitate the NIL deals, the school revealed they will be launching the Panther Pack NIL Collective in August 2025. Additionally, in the school’s statement they outlined their goal to raise $500,000 in donations by July 2025 to cover upstart costs for the collective. Prep is also looking for $10,000,000 in donations by 2030 to ensure the collective is financially viable. Furthermore, to ensure the donation goals are met, the school has begun planning a yearly fundraiser which will be announced at the start of next school year.
Prep leaders have been working hard on NIL deal agreements with local businesses including an already finalized lucrative deal with local pizza franchise Pagliacci. Leaders decided to start negotiating deals without the Panther Pack Collective launched to ensure there is a large enough pool of money to pay athletes NIL money right from the start of the 25-26 academic year.
“I cannot wait for NIL to begin here. It is a gamechanger for me and my family financially,” Panther football star Leon Sandcastle said in an interview. Sandcastle also said “NIL will allow for Panther athletics to take the next step and become the top program in Washington state and the SEC.”
The next era of Prep athletics is beginning as we speak.
