The ability to allow athletes to earn additional income from their name, image and likeness is called NIL. This can mean appearing in advertisements, social media posts and product endorsements. One of the first instances that sparked the conversation of NIL was back in 2009.

Former UCLA basketball player, Ed O’Bannon, initiated a class action lawsuit against the National College Athletic Association (NCAA), claiming that an EA Sports game used his likeness without fit compensation.

Following this case, California became the first state to pass legislation in the Fair Pay to Play Act. This allowed college student-athletes to profit from their NIL without consequences from their school.

“This concept is rooted in the right of publicity, which gives individuals control over how their identity is used for commercial purposes,” according to the NCSA college recruiting website.

Up until Oct. 20, the idea of high school level NIL in the state of Ohio seemed to be out of reach. However, a judge from Franklin County in Columbus, Ohio recently blew the final whistle on the state’s long standing ban on high school athletes’ NIL deals.

This decision came to fruition after Jamier Brown, the nation’s top wide receiver in the 2027 class, put pressure on the court. Brown, a commit to The Ohio State University, claimed to have missed out on over 100,000 dollars per year in NIL commissions because of Ohio’s ban.

His recent lawsuit against the Ohio High School Athletic Association (OHSAA) successfully secured a temporary restraining order against the ban, immediately allowing student-athletes across the state to pursue NIL deals without risking their ability to play.

This decision has been long in the making, as Ohio was only one of only six states not permitting NIL, despite having the third largest high school athletic participation in the country. However, the state has had limited success with the law as of Oct. 2025.

One of the biggest and recurring challenges brought up by NIL is the lack of support and guidance for these athletes, leading to a possibility of manipulation by possible business prospects.

“A lot of these NIL agents are trying to screw kids in their contracts and I think that uneducated kids could be taken advantage of financially,” Giacomo Sammarco, former football player, said.

Sammarco attended high school in Cincinnati, graduated from Anderson High School in 2024 and now plays football at the University of Alabama.

“I would’ve hopefully been able to do a couple of deals with local Cincinnati businesses,” Sammarco said. “I think it would’ve positively affected me because I would’ve been able to make business connections in high school.”

To make these opportunities a reality requires a team to educate the student-athletes on the dangers and the benefits to lower the risks of possible financial abuse.

“NIL will require strong partnerships between athletic directors, principals, families and the OHSAA to make sure everyone understands what is and isn’t allowed,” Josh Hardin, Cincinnati Public Schools district athletic director, said.

Hardin has a set plan to support students and their families throughout their journey.

“CPS is implementing a support system that includes financial literacy resources, collaboration with OHSAA/ partners, [an] NIL resource page, direct communication to families, school level training for [athletic directors] and coaches to advise and support,” Hardin said. “We want every student to have access to trustworthy information before signing anything.”

Despite commotion surrounding the topic, it is apparent that NIL at this level will only affect a sparse amount of student athletes.

“We [members of the OHSAA] have been shown that mega-NIL deals [over $20K] are offered to about 1% of high school student athletes across the country,” Kevin Espelage, head athletic director of Elder High School, said.

A similar controversial topic at the collegiate level is the transfer portal, a portal where athletes that feel they need more from their sport can go to another team. In some cases, the reason for this is better monetary benefits.

The same goes for high school, as there is a transfer portal that allows kids to go to a “better” school for varying reasons, including stronger athletics.

“We had a highly successful football season here at Elder; I shake my head at the number of transfer inquiries I have had from parents,” Espelage said.

Included within NIL, there is a subgroup in which there are NIL collectives. This can be defined as a collective where a third-party organization, not affiliated with the school, fundraises money in order to run or facilitate these deals for athletes.

NIL collectives are popular at the college level, but are currently illegal at the high school level. Many have concerns with collectives being harmful to high school athletes.
“The challenge will be high schools illegally creating collectives or arranging NIL deals in order to influence enrollment,” Espelage said. “And when this inevitably happens, how will the OHSAA investigate and discover this illegal activity, and how will they be punished?”

While the financial aspects of NIL deals often grab headlines, some believe the true potential lies in the personal development of the athlete.

“NIL should be seen as an educational experience, not a shortcut to fame or money,” Hardin said. “Our plan is to protect students while helping them grow.”

To learn more info about Ohio-specific NIL rules visit OHSAA’s website for more information at https://www.ohsaa.org/Eligibility/NIL-Resource-Center.