NIL Deals Approved For FL High School Student-Athletes

FLORIDA — Student-athletes in Florida high schools can now be compensated for their name, image and likeness per the Florida High School Athletic Association's latest vote.

The FHSAA said Tuesday the approval is pending State Board of Education's July 24 ratification.

The association's 13-member board unanimously voted for the approval, the Florida Times-Union reported. NIL will be in effect for the 2024-25 season, the outlet reported.

"The FHSAA supports NIL education, which prepares student-athletes to make informed decisions. By providing student-athletes with knowledge about potential legal and financial drawbacks associated with NIL activities, high schools can contribute to the overall welfare of their student-athletes," the FHSAA bylaws read Wednesday.

In compliance with the newly revamped rules as stated in policy 9.9, student-athletes can now be compensated for NIL associated with commercial endorsements, promotional activities, social media presence, product or service advertisements.

NIL endorsements cannot go beyond a student's graduation date and must confine within the student's athletic eligibility. Recruiting with NIL is restricted, per the bylaws.

If a student begins a sport after transferring, the bylaws state they may not be able to benefit from NIL.

The FHSAA prohibits NIL deals associated with the following activities:

• Adult entertainment products and services;
• Alcohol, tobacco, vaping, and nicotine products
• Cannabis products
• Controlled substances
• Prescription pharmaceuticals
• Gambling, including sports betting, the lottery, and betting in connection with video games, online games, and mobile devices
• Weapons, firearms, and ammunition
• Political or social activism
• NIL Collectives

“We don’t want to pay kids just because they are great athletes," board member Ricky Bell, formerly Leon County Schools director of student activities, said in the Times-Union report. "I think that’s the problem with colleges and NIL. They can’t control the collectives. We don’t want to see that in high schools.”

Violating the FHSAA's bylaws could result in the following:

• For a first offense, the student-athlete shall receive a formal warning.
• For a second offense, the student-athlete will be ineligible to represent any member school for a period of one year from the date of discovery.
• For a third offense, the student-athlete will be ineligible to compete in any interscholastic athletic contest in any sport for the duration of the student-athlete’s high school career.