Ohio becomes 45th state to allow NIL deals for high school athletes

 By Anthony Leonardi/Kent State NewsLab

After a November vote by the Ohio High School Athletic Association, Ohio became the 45th state to allow high school students to make NIL money. 

On Oct. 15, Jamier Brown, the nation’s top wide receiver recruit in the class of 2027, filed a lawsuit urging the OHSAA to change the rule prohibiting high school athletes from making NIL money. In the lawsuit, Brown’s mother claimed that her son had opportunities to make up to seven figures in NIL money. 

On Nov. 24, Ohio lifted its ban, with high schools voting 447-121 in favor of NIL. Another 247 schools abstained. 

Pennsylvania has allowed high school athletes to earn money through NIL deals since 2022. Anthony Pegues, the head football coach at Farrell High School in Farrell, Penn., said he is a supporter of NIL deals. 

“I think it’s a great thing for these young guys,” Pegues said. “They get a little bit of money in their pockets to advertise things… It’s a little slow here in Pennsylvania, but I think it’s been a great thing.” 

Pete Kahler, the athletic director at St. Edward High School in Lakewood, said he does not think NIL will change the landscape of Ohio high school sports very much. 

“We’ve been preparing for this day for a long time,” Kahler said. “I have talked to fellow athletic directors in states where NIL is legal, and in a nutshell, there are only really one or two kids who make a crazy amount of money.”

Kahler is referring to athletes like Brown, who is one of the projected 30 to 40 five-star football players in the entire country. 

“They have built their own brand that major brands want to get behind,” Kahler said. “We have a rich football history at Ed’s, but we have never had a five-star recruit.”

According to the OHSAA, student athletes are still prohibited from earning money to play the sport in which they compete as amateurs. But they may receive awards or gifted money as long as the total amount does not exceed $500.

Kahler doesn’t think NIL will affect a school’s ability to recruit talent. 

“When you break it down, you realize you’re not paying them to come to schools, and there is no tie to recruitment,” Kahler said. “It’s strictly brands that want to pay people to endorse them.” 

But Jack Damato, the head football coach at Crestwood High School, believes this will devastate smaller programs. He said it is already hard to compete as a small school, and NIL would make it even more difficult. 

“Lower-division schools would absolutely suffer,” Damato said. “They don’t have the same resources, visibility or sponsor appeal as larger programs… it is going to be even harder for smaller schools to compete, retain athletes and keep programs sustainable.” 

According to Kahler, the rule change prohibits players from wearing any gear from the high school where they play sports when they’re doing NIL-related work. 

”You can’t wear your school marks,” Kahler explained. “If you play at Ed’s, no oval E, there’s no St. Edward in any kind of commercial that’s shot, nothing. Just the kid and the brand they’re endorsing.” 

But Crestwood’s Damato believes there will still be problems that come from these deals. 

“It creates an environment where athletes are incentivized to chase deals instead of committing to a program,” Damato said. “High school sports are supposed to be about development, playing the game with the people you grew up with and pride in your community… not branding wars and bidding contests.”

Kingston Powell, a football player at Cardinal Mooney High School in Youngstown, said he thinks NIL could be a distraction for some players. 

“I feel like it could be good for some people that don’t have a lot of money, but I think it will lead to a lot of cockiness in most cases,” Powell said. 

His teammate, John Brenner, also has mixed feelings. 

“I think it could be great, especially for those who are not as blessed to have a nice place to go home to,” Brenner said. “But you also have bigger schools that I think will be able to bring in some good guys with some serious money. It will be tougher for schools like ours to try and match that so we can hang with them.”

NIL deals have been allowed at the collegiate level for several years. The NCAA adopted its first NIL rule change in July 2021. Shortly after, California became the first state in the country to allow NIL deals for high school athletes. 

Since then, many athletes have had the opportunity to make money based on their platform. But most of those deals are relatively small. A North Carolina official told EdWeek in 2024 that he estimates the average high school student earns $60 to $120 per NIL deal.

“”The media level at the high school level is nowhere near, not even close to what is in college,” Kahler said. “But if a kid can make a couple hundred by making some social media posts or by shooting a commercial for a local pizza place, God bless, I’m all for it.”

This story was originally published by the Kent State NewsLab, a collaborative news outlet publishing journalism by Kent State students.