It was only a matter of time. The NIL (Name, Image, Likeness) scene has reached the high school level in Washington.
Two high school football players in Tacoma — Lincoln junior quarterback and four-star recruit Sione Kaho and Mount Tahoma corner and UW commit Elijah Durr — inked NIL deals on Wednesday with local burger joint Secret Burger Kitchen, a smash burger restaurant housed inside the Holiday Inn on South Hosmer Street (there’s also a location in Seattle).
The deals are believed to be the first publicized NIL deals in Tacoma. A spokesperson from the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association (WIAA) said they have been made aware of other endorsement signings by high school players recently, but did not provide names. Kaho and Durr’s signings appear to be the first NIL deals among high-profile football or basketball recruits.
“Hard work didn’t go unnoticed,” Durr said. “We got this opportunity, first NIL for the city.”
Kaho said he was grateful for the opportunity to partner with a local business.
“The biggest thing was just being part of the community,” he said. “Them being in Tacoma, having that ‘253’ label and just that community type of feeling.”
There was a small ceremony in a private room at the Holiday Inn on Wednesday. There were burgers, of course. Lots of burgers.
NIL has been a hot topic in college athletics recently, allowing athletes to be paid for their Name, Image and Likeness. College athletes weren’t always allowed to make money off their athletic ability. That changed in 2021, when the NCAA changed its rules. The floodgates opened shortly thereafter, with boosters at major universities swooping in to lure players to their schools with lucrative deals.
A WIAA spokesperson told The News Tribune on Thursday that the WIAA has been made aware of some high school students signing NIL deals in the past couple of years but said it doesn’t collect names.
The WIAA allows athletes to be compensated for their Name, Image and Likeness and receive commercial endorsements. However, student-athletes cannot use their high school’s name, logo or uniform as part of their NIL deals. The issue is addressed in the WIAA’s handbook, section 18.24.0.
“Any affiliation with the school team, school, WIAA District or State Association would jeopardize the student’s amateur standing,” WIAA spokesperson Sean Bessette wrote in a statement to the TNT. “Additionally, students may not appear in uniform or utilize the marks or logos of the school, WIAA District, or the WIAA.” The WIAA does not regulate individual NIL contracts or endorsement deals, so long as the deals are in compliance with the organization’s handbook.
Kaho and Durr won’t make the type of cash being tossed around to high-level Division I football players — at least not yet — but their six-month deals with Secret Burger Kitchen will provide financial compensation and some free food. In return, Kaho and Durr will promote the business on social media platforms and pop-up events in the community. They’ll also help Secret Burger Kitchen co-owner Paul Sandhu hand out free burgers to people in need once a month.
“They’ll be there front and center, I’ll be there front and center,” Sandhu said. “That’s our mission. … We have this thing about giving back to the community.”
Local barber and comedian Dominique Ervin — stage name ‘BoeBlast’ — creates social media content for Secret Burger Kitchen. He made the initial connections between Paul Sandhu, SBK co-owner and nephew Mandeep Sandhu, Kaho and Durr.
“He talked to some people, found the right kids,” Paul Sandhu said. “Instead of giving our money to big companies and other people, let’s give it to kids who are working, working hard. … There’s nothing more local than connecting with your local high schools.”
Kaho and Durr will also be required to maintain a minimum 3.0 grade point average as part of their contracts.
Lincoln coach Masaki Matsumoto figured it was only a matter of time before NIL trickled down to the high schools. He’s happy to see one of his players being one of the first to sign a deal.
“It’s exciting,” he said. “I don’t know Elijah personally. He’s a great player. But I can vouch for Sione. Great kid, great character, good grades, great leader. He’s well deserving of it.”
Matsumoto said he thought former Lincoln linebacker Jayden Wayne, a highly-rated recruit out of high school, might be his first player to ink an NIL deal similar to the ones Kaho and Durr signed on Wednesday. That didn’t materialize, but this time, the timing was right.
“It took a couple years but it finally came and came to the right kid,” Matsumoto said.
THE SECRET’S OUT
Wondering about those smash burgers? Here’s the backstory. Paul Sandhu’s parents immigrated to the United States from India in the 1960s. His family saved up some money and purchased a small motel in Auburn, where Sandhu and his family would work when they weren’t in school.
“We hated summers, hated weekends because we had to clean rooms, mow the lawn,” he said, laughing.
But the hard work gave Sandhu firsthand experience and valuable insight into the hospitality business. Years after finishing college and working a number of tech jobs, Sandhu invested in the hotel business and eventually purchased the hotel that’s now that Holiday Inn on Hosmer Street.
The restaurant inside the hotel was something of an afterthought, routinely losing money.
“Those don’t really make money,” he said. “They’re an amenity.”
He wanted to be able to ship orders through Doordash, GrubHub and other takeout service providers, so he started over and rebranded the restaurant into “Secret Burger Kitchen.” It’s a strange location for a restaurant, housed inside the hotel, but business is booming. Sandhu opened a second location in Seattle recently, and will open a third near the University of Washington this fall, with two more locations planned for Kirkland and Covington. The long-term vision is to make the restaurant a national franchise chain.
“I knew the burgers were good but I didn’t know we were going to get that level of community support,” Sandhu said. “It all started with Instagram.”
That social media driven strategy continues with the services of Kaho and Durr. Sandhu said more deals are coming with female high school student-athletes next.