I don't see in the articles where they claim the athletes are "employees" of the WIAA.

Nebraska has had their boys and girls state championship games televised for many years now, on NETV (the PBS affiliate) and the CBS affiliate in Lincoln (the two stations partner to provide the televising manpower, pay for the broadcasting rights, and to air the games across the state since the CBS affiliate doesn't go statewide).

Iowa does it differently because they have separate associations for the girls and for the boys. The boys association sold the rights to cover the finals to a broadcasting company, who then sells the right to show the games to various television stations. I heard that some parts of Iowa are not able to receive the games unless they view the pay-per-view on the internet. I'm not sure how the girls association does it, but I'm sure it's a similar deal.