Former USFL president launches spring league for high school recruits with less restrictive NIL rules

Next spring, another wrinkle will be coming to the high school football recruiting scene.

Brian Woods, the founder of The Spring League and recent iteration of the USFL, announced plans for the Prep Super League. Consisting of 12 teams spread throughout the country, the league will recruit four- and five-star talent to play in its inaugural season in spring 2024.

With plans for teams in Atlanta, Cleveland, Dallas, Houston, New Jersey, New Orleans, Los Angeles, Miami, Phoenix, San Diego, San Francisco and Tampa, prospects will play in an 11-on-11 format over six weeks.

The Prep Super League will follow college rules and has started to discuss coaching positions with former FBS and NFL head coaches. The league will also have less restrictive NIL policies, allowing athletes to profit from their publicity rights.

“We’re setting up teams and in talent-rich markets around the country,” Woods told On3 in a phone interview. “But these teams will be independent of state associations. We’re very strategic about where we want to be. And we know that there’s a handful of markets that year in and year out produce an overwhelming number of players that are on Division I rosters each season, and that are on rosters of NFL teams on opening day.”

While the eventual product could command a TV contract, Woods plans to launch Prep Super League+ this fall. The platform will be the destination for live games and on-demand content for fans.

Prep Super League looking to build NIL brands

Currently, 29 states, plus Washington, D.C., allow high schoolers to profit off their NIL without losing their amateur status. Yet, multiple states filled with the top high school talent, including Florida, Georgia and Texas, prohibit athletes from striking NIL deals if they still want to play high school sports.

Woods told On3 that Prep Super League has partnered with NOCAP Sports to assist in facilitating NIL deals with athletes. Many top prospects On3 spoke with at last week’s On3 NIL Elite Series shared brands have tried to offer partnerships in states where name, image and likeness is prohibited.

If an athlete were to strike a relationship with a major brand during their time with the Prep Super League, however, it could put their amateur status in limbo if their state association prohibits NIL.

“We should be viewed as a supplemental and complementary entity to traditional high school football, first and foremost,” Woods said. “In terms of NIL, parents and athletes are going to have to make their own decisions at some point. You know, I think the landscape is changing very quickly.

“… We believe that we’re going to be able to raise the brand value of especially the four- and five-star player that elects to come in. They may have a great grading on them. They may have numerous offers, but my position would be, a player that comes into the Prep Super League will come into a league that’s going to really raise his brand awareness. The athlete could increase his opportunities for either more NIL deals or NIL deals with more monetary value behind them.”

How Prep Super League will differentiate itself

Woods does not envision the Prep Super League developing into the next iteration of IMG Academy. The league wants to work around the cities they have picked, with athletes still attending classes at their high school and attending a few practices a week. The league’s practices will be similar to an NFL minicamp, with minimal contact.

Seven-on-seven teams have become a major piece of the high school recruiting scene. The Prep Super League would run from April 19 to May 24, positioned right in the middle of the recruiting calendar.

Woods would not reveal any specific names but did say that the league already has a health and safety partner. Athletes will be required to have their own insurance to play in the six-week league, too. The league has not approached any players yet about joining but there has been interest from coaches.

“We did this strategically,” Woods said. “We wanted to be playing our games exactly during the college recruiting calendar. So when most of the assistant coaches from all over Division I are on the recruiting road from mid-April to late May every year, that’s when we want to be conducting our games. So, it’s no coincidence that we’re going to be playing at the exact time that the NCAA is conducting its biggest evaluation period of the year.

“But I also know that we did not want to have as many games because we want to make sure these players have enough time to recuperate in time for a fall football season. That’s coming up. The other thing I would tell you is that we are going to use NCAA rules. We are looking at modifying the kickoff. We are looking at potentially some other rule modifications.”