Recruit-centric Prep Super League still on track to debut in April with loose NIL restrictions

Nakos updated headshotby:Pete Nakos•03/25/24•

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Brian Woods, founder of The Spring League and recent iteration of the USFL, announced the formation of an 11-on-11 high school football league with loose NIL rules last June.

Plans are still in place for the Prep Super League (PSL) to debut next month, with the regular season opener scheduled for April 27. Since Woods made the announcement, some plans have changed. He anticipates 400 players to participate across 12 teams with three divisions. His goal is to expand to 16 to 30 teams, however, that wouldn’t mean 30 different markets.

Since the launch announcement, there’s been a resorting of locations, too. Plans were in place for Cleveland, but the state of Ohio has not altered its NIL policy. Instead, he sold a franchise to Denver. Nevada enacted language in August to allow NIL at the high school level, opening up the Las Vegas market.

Woods said plans are for teams to be in Atlanta, Dallas, Denver, Houston, New Jersey, New Orleans, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami, San Diego, San Francisco and Tampa.

“I’ve been very encouraged by the number of four and five-star kids,” he recently told On3. “We’re up around 100 four and five-stars that have committed to play in it, and some of these kids are legitimate. They are some of the best kids in the country. Granted, we’re not everywhere where these kids are. Arguably, right now, the best recruit is (five-star quarterback) Bryce Underwood up in Michigan.

“We are in discussions with some of these out-of-market players, especially quarterbacks, about getting them involved. What we think could be an interesting spin, for instance, with, Bryce Underwood, we’d love to be able to get him into the Prep Super League, and then assign him to our New Orleans team because he’s committed to LSU.”

Woods did not provide the full list to On3, but shared 12 names who have publicly opted-in to play:

When PSL first launched, former FBS and NFL head coaches were the target to serve as head coaches. That is still the case in some of the 12 markets, however, Woods has opened the pool to experienced high school coaches.

Set to follow college rules, teams can hold two minimal contact, 90-minute practices a week with a walk-through and games scheduled on Saturdays.

“We have been engaging the top high school coaches in these markets because we want to be able to support traditional high school football,” Woods said. “There’s some goodwill to build by bringing in established coaches, ones that have been in their markets and been doing a lot of good for their players for many years to come. We are going to be announcing all of our head coaches here in the next couple of weeks.”

NIL collectives can play role in PSL

Independent of state associations, the Prep Super League made clear from the jump it believes the platform can strengthen athletes’ brand value. Eight of the 12 markets allow high schoolers to profit off their NIL and remain eligible. Florida and Texas still prohibit name, image and likeness, but Woods believes there is still a way for athletes in those states to profit.

“If a player in a state like Florida wants to participate in NIL with the Prep Super League and make that a senior season or forego remaining high school eligibility, then they very well could choose to do that,” he said. “That is certainly a possibility that could be an enticing option for them.”

As was first reported last June, the Prep Super League partnered with NOCAP Sports to assist in facilitating NIL deals with athletes. The league has not signed an apparel sponsor but has had conversations with multiple companies about being the presenting sponsor. Woods also sees a path for NIL collectives to be involved, especially in the current environment where the booster-led organizations can openly negotiate with athletes.

“One of the things that I’ve envisioned is kind of an easy way for collectives to get access to our players, whether that be staging events and or doing marketing,” he said. “I think eight or nine of our markets are going to be hosting in-person events, kind of open houses if you will, where the collectives could come in and meet with our players and have access.” 

Streaming will serve as PSL distribution

In his past ventures with The Spring League and USFL, Woods has found linear television options for those leagues. He’s taking a different route with the PSL, opting to launch with a direct-to-consumer app where fans can watch games in real time. The league has partnered with video streaming company 24i and real-time video streaming platform Phenix.

The app will provide a sub-second latency viewing experience, meaning the stream will be just two seconds behind, according to Woods. The typical TV delay is between 20 and 25 seconds. Because of conferences’ preexisting TV deals, PSL will be one of the first leagues to tap into the tech 24i and Phenix offer.

The app will offer a range of engaging features, including multi-camera views for games.

“Creating this platform where people can download an app and not have confusion in terms of where do I need to watch the games, where are these games going to live, including our video on demand, which we think is going to be a big thing, too,” Woods said. “So all of our off-the-field content will live on our direct-to-consumer platform.”