OHSAA athletic directors prepare for NIL deals after court ruling

CINCINNATI (WXIX) – Ohio High School student-athletes can pursue name, image and likeness sponsorship deals following a temporary restraining order on a statewide ban on the practice.

The 45-day order comes from a Franklin County judge presiding over a case involving a student athlete from Dayton who has sued while claiming to have lost opportunities for over $100,000 in advertising deals.

The Ohio High School Athletics Association is expected to produce bylaws for a more permanent allowance of NIL deals on Thursday.

FOX 19 spoke with local athletic directors about how Greater Cincinnati programs will have to adapt.

“We knew that it was coming,” said Indian Hill Athletic Director Brian Phelps. “I believe 42 states already have NIL. We’ve kind of been kicking it down the can the last couple of years to see how this works out in other states.”

Elder High School Athletic Director Kevin Espelage said that the change is just a sign of the times.

“Does high school sports need this? No, but you’re there and you have to make adjustments and deal with the reality of where we’re at as a society, I guess,” he said.

He and Phelps both said that NIL deals will likely only affect a small handful of students statewide.

“I think there’s going to be an initial wave of outsiders thinking they can have an effect on a high school athlete and kind of hold onto their ‘Al Bundy-ness’, but I think the reality is you’re dealing with a very small percentage of student athletes,” he said.

Those select few could receive life-changing amounts of money. On3, a website that tracks NIL deals, lists the two highest-paid high school athletes as making $1.9 million and $1.8 million in NIL sponsorships.

University of Cincinnati Director of Athlete Influence Eddie Taylor said that these deals can put pressure on students.

“Even as a high school student, there’s so much going on,” Taylor said. “If you start doing NIL deals, you have contractual deliverables you have to do, and so it’s no longer a game where it’s just fun.”

Until OHSAA’s bylaws are published, schools will wait to see what the regulations are surrounding those deals.

“As we understand it more, we’ll have to grow with it and try to support our student athletes the best we can,” Phelps said.

OHSAA’s board of directors meets on Thursday, and they’re expected to release bylaws after that meeting. From there, member schools will vote to approve or deny the language of those bylaws.

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