Ohio high school athletes can now earn money from their name, image, and likeness after OHSAA member schools voted to approve an emergency NIL bylaw. The vote ended on November 21 with 447 schools in favor, 121 against, and 247 abstaining. With this decision, Ohio becomes the 45th state to allow high school NIL, and the new rule takes effect immediately.
The bylaw allows students to be paid for things like social media posts, appearances, endorsements, and licensing deals. To protect eligibility, the rule also sets limits. Students cannot use school logos, cannot do NIL activities during school or team events, cannot accept deals from school boosters or collectives, and cannot be paid based on performance or as a way to influence where they attend school. They also cannot take deals involving gambling, alcohol, tobacco, cannabis, or other restricted industries.
Students must report every NIL agreement to the OHSAA within 14 days. Failing to report deals can lead to penalties, including losing part of a sports season. If a student transfers schools for reasons tied to NIL, it may be treated as a recruiting violation.
The emergency vote happened because of a lawsuit filed in October by a student-athlete. A judge issued a temporary order that allowed NIL activity for 45 days, speeding up the OHSAA’s planned timeline. The OHSAA had already been working on NIL rules for more than a year, gathering feedback from administrators, its board of directors, and schools across the state.
Now that the bylaw has passed, the OHSAA will track NIL activity and continue updating schools. Any future changes to the NIL rules will go through the regular voting process in May, when school principals cast their referendum votes.
