JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – High school athletes in Florida can now profit off their name, image and likeness after the State Board of Education voted to usher in the new era in athletics on Wednesday morning.
The Florida High School Athletic Association board of directors unanimously voted to approve NIL here on June 4, but it remained in a holding pattern until Wednesday. All bylaw changes must now be approved by the State Board, and it was unanimously.
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There are numerous things athletes can’t endorse or profit from and they can’t wear jerseys of their school or any markings related to their team.
Executive director Craig Damon was asked by members of the State Board if the FHSAA could add more NIL information on the website like sample contracts and explainers to help assist schools, athletes, coaches and parents with the process. Damon said he’d revisit the State Board with information gathered during the next few months as NIL is implemented.
Board member Ben Gibson had questions on how the FHSAA planned to monitor and enforce potential NIL violations. Damon said the association will remind schools that they and the general public can report something through the allegation form on the website.
“Our member schools will be watching, I can promise you that. They watch for things that they feel other member schools are doing that are inappropriate, and submit those reports to office,” Damon said. “But we’ll monitor as well. We try to check every now and then. And there’s some key folks in certain areas that are pretty reliable sources for our association, but definitely going to be looking out and relying on our member schools. ...”
The FHSAA board of directors held an emergency meeting Monday to clarify language in their initial NIL bylaw that it was sending to the State Board. That amended bylaw addressed NIL collectives specifically and arose after a website, nilclub.com, began soliciting donations that could be given to high school athletes in Florida.
The updated bylaw targets collectives that collect funds from donors, individuals and businesses that; help facilitate NIL deals for athletes; facilitate payments to or transfers funds to athlete; create ways for athletes to monetize NIL; promotes NIL for athletes.
The Georgia High School Association went through something similar at its board of trustees meeting last week, voting to bar athletes from earning money through collectives. News4JAX was flooded with emails from parents prior to the GHSA vote, saying that blocking athletes from earning NIL money through collectives isn’t fair to the bulk of students there.