Cole Pepper
The Florida High School Athletic Association (FHSAA) board has unanimously passed a measure to allow high school athletes to profit from their name, image and likeness (NIL).
The board had considered the measure at several meetings over the past year.
The decision allows Florida to keep up with other states where similar bylaws are already in place. Once approved by the Board of Education in July, Florida will become the 36th state to approve NIL at the high school level.
How much of an impact the new guidelines will have on schools, teams and student-athletes?
“I don’t think much will change,” said Creekside High School (St. Johns) football coach Sean MacIntyre.
“I don’t believe there is going to be much value in this in most communities. I don’t know how much fluid money there is going to be to give to high school kids without much of a return on investment. I do think there is a chance for some community schools to, say, have a barbeque joint host a lunch for the offensive line once a month. What a cool environment that would be.”
McIntyre isn’t alone in thinking the impact on high school football will be relegated largely to five-star recruits and schools with robust booster programs.
That said, the rules apply to all sports.
Top prospects in basketball and some other sports may be in line to benefit from the new rules.
“We have to be a guide to the students in this,” said Brian Gilbert, athletic director and head boys basketball coach at Fletcher High School in Jacksonville Beach. “Years ago, it was social media. Now this is the new thing that we have to deal with.”
There are still several questions to be answered.
“I’ve read the bylaws five, six, seven times, and I’m still not sure what to think,” Gilbert said. “It’s just all so new. But it’s the world we live in.”
Ultimately, how the new guidelines impact high school sports in Florida is yet to be truly determined.
“The board was pressured by all of the other states that had this,” McIntyre said. “The (FHSAA) was perceived to be limiting kids’ rights. That’s why they did this.”
Like McIntyre, Gilbert said he thinks the private schools and schools with numerous top prospects will be dealing more with NIL situations than public schools. He acknowledged the need for education for all involved.
“As an athletic director, administrator, educator, or coach, we’re in the kid-first business,” Gilbert said. “Some people who may get involved in this don’t necessarily have the kids primarily in mind. Let’s tread lightly, right now.”
Some of the language is murky. For instance, under the bylaws, student-athletes are not allowed to engage in any NIL activities involving NIL collectives.
But the bye-laws also address NIL collectives, saying they “shall not include team fundraising but does include and is not limited to, groups, organizations, or cooperatives enterprises that exist to collect funds from donors and businesses, to help facilitate NIL deals for student-athletes, and/or create ways for athletes to monetize from their NIL.”
The mention of NIL Collectives in and of itself suggests that the FHSAA knows, or at least suspects, that collectives will form, as they have at the college level.
Athletes cannot earn money based on their performance but the language in the bylaws states they cannot capitalize on athletic fame “by receiving money or gifts of a monetary nature.”
“I think initially it will be the blue-chip guys, those guys who have a large social media following, those are the kids who will be sought after first,” Gilbert said. “But I think it will evolve.”
