Ohio is among more than 40 states that allow high school athletes to strike name, image and likeness deals, after a vote of the members of the Ohio High School Athletic Association in November. Two Republican lawmakers want to pull that back and ban NIL deals for student athletes starting in middle school.
House Bill 661 is sponsored by Reps. Adam Bird (R-New Richmond) and Mike Odioso (R-Green Twp.). The lawmakers said the bill is needed for several reasons, but a big one is that taxpayer money goes to public schools for student athletes to learn, not to earn money.
"Ohio high school sports should be about a learning experience that is an extension of the classroom," said Bird. "It should be about discipline, work ethic, character development, leadership and communication skills. These are the reasons why we as a state and as a society invest in the opportunity for young people to participate."
Bird added: "We don't spend public taxpayer money on stadiums and on weight rooms and on gymnasiums in order for them to be able to earn, an employment and earn an income."
Odioso coached football at St. Xavier in Cincinnati, and said enforcing the rules on NIL deals is a financial burden on schools, who have to make sure rules are being followed so schools are in compliance and athletes are eligible. He said he hopes it has an effect on college sports.
“We're going to have this linkage from all this garbage that's going on with with the colleges and with the mess that is a transfer portal. But the NIL garbage is going to go all the way down the seventh grade," Odioso said. "Are we prepared to do that? I say we're not.”
And Odioso said he's not concerned that Ohio could be one of just a few states banning NIL deals in high schools.
“If it creates a disadvantage for Ohio or Ohio colleges in recruiting and getting the best athletes in, I'm not gonna shed a tear on that," Odioso said. "If if this takes talent out on such a high level, that opens up spots for other kids to play and experience the education that occurs on the football field, the basketball court, the wrestling mat."
The bill had its first hearing on Wednesday.
Nearly 79% of the 568 OHSAA member schools that voted in November approved of the change to allow NIL deals. A total of 447 schools voted in favor of the referendum and 121 schools voted against it, while 247 schools abstained.
The OHSAA said in a statement that it's aware of the bill and "looks forward to continuing to provide information on the process taken to develop the proposal and safeguards that went to our membership for a vote last fall. It is important to note that NIL at the high school level in Ohio is very different than what we see at the college level, and that Ohio is one of 45 states that allows some version of NIL for high school student-athletes.”
