NIL in O-H-I-O

Ohio is one of only six remaining states banning high school athletes from benefiting from NIL deals. In September, the OHSAA approved language to amend their bylaws to allow for NIL compensation, but that was not enough to stop the lawsuit from moving forward.

The family of Dayton-area wide receiver Jamir Brown, who has committed to Ohio State, brought the suit last week, and yesterday a judge granted a temporary restraining order that would allow high school athletes in the state to enter into NIL deals immediately.

According to the suit, Brown has already missed out on over $100k in income due to the policy of OHSAA. The ruling also levels the playing field for athletes at OHSAA schools. Until yesterday, only athletes attending private schools had the ability to sign NIL deals. With 818 schools in OHSAA the potential revenue for high school athletes is staggering. With the constraints on college NIL tightening, it makes sense the focus would shift downstream.

The risks to the athlete can be far greater as well. Exploitation risk, loss of eligibility, and making bad deals are just a few potential issues. Most college programs outside of the Power Four are struggling to manage and educate their athletes. It’s safe to assume high school ADs with essentially zero budget to help kids navigate NIL deals will have to count on their friends and family to advise them. There are way too many stories about that not working out well.

The unfortunate truth is that the market is moving to where the most opportunity is. With the CSC and NIL Go strangling the margins of collectives and constantly policing “pay-to-play” deals, it makes perfect sense to target five-star recruits before the restrictions kick in. High school athletes have fewer resources and less leverage to negotiate NIL deals, and with the price of talent in the portal skyrocketing, it’s better to try to lock them in early at a lower price.

All athletes need to understand that NIL deals are a negotiation, and potential sponsors are trying to get as much as possible as cheaply as possible. Here are just a few checklist items to run through before signing anything:

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Midterm Blues: Ways to Balance School & Sports
College athletes spend an extra 30 hours per week on their sport. With classes, studying, and assignments, most student athletes start with 50-60 hours of activities on a weekly basis. Research has shown student athletes are at a higher risk of burnout than other students. With the demands for practice time, travel to events, and public appearances, it’s easy to understand why.

Athletes tend to push themselves in all aspects of their lives. Just like your body needs time to recover, so does your mind. Schedule time to take a break from everything related to your sport. A full mental break once a week can keep you from running on fumes.

Don’t overload your calendar. Between conditioning, practice, and classes, your daily calendar probably looks like a game of Tetris, every block packed tightly together, one wrong move and it all comes crashing down! If you’re going to book every minute of your day, plan time to recharge. Or better yet, leave gaps so you can do nothing!

Fuel your body. Eat regular meals. Don’t eat junk. Hydrate. Don’t overthink this one.

And finally, when you hit a wall, ask for help. The greatest benefit of being a college athlete is your support system. Reach out to a coach, teammate, trainer, or anyone you trust to talk through what is going on. Your school has support programs as well. There is always help when you need it.

College athletes have been told that revenue sharing is the start of a new era. Schools will now share part of their athletic income directly with players, with talk of fairness and opportunity. But if you ask how much each sport or athlete is getting, the answers get quiet fast.

Most schools have released no public breakdown of how they plan to split the money. There are estimates and reports, like Ben Roberts from the Lexington Herald, reporting Kentucky’s basketball payroll will eclipse $20 million this year. Beyond these types of reports, the public is mostly in the dark. There is no data showing women’s sports are receiving their fair share, or which sports are benefiting the most. Only the top of the house knows the details.

This silence matters. When you move money behind closed doors, usually the assumption is that there is a reason, and not a good one. I think everyone agrees that complete transparency is impossible. College athletes are not professional athletes (yet), and the details of their contracts are not made public. But it would go a long way if schools could show that the distribution plan is spreading the wealth beyond the big, revenue-driving programs.

Rutgers “Athletic Excellence Fund”

The internal fund is designed to pay athletes directly under the new revenue-sharing rules. Many mid-size programs will be watching closely to see if the model works.

Corporate Field Sponsorships

Institutions are turning to selling field sponsorship, such as corporate logos, naming rights to generate added funds for athlete payout pools, as the $20 million annual cap on revenue-sharing becomes the baseline rather than the ceiling.

Relocation Marketing

There is a growing trend of schools relocating marquee games to larger markets to optimize NIL exposure for the school and the athletes. It’s a signal that schedule strategy is becoming more about brand value for athletes than the sport itself.

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