In the past week, the state of Florida became the 36th state in the country to enact Name, Image and Likeness among the high school ranks.
Essentially, Florida made it possible for high school student-athletes to gain monetary compensation from anyone and everything, excluding entities like adult entertainment, gun companies, gambling or tobacco. High schoolers in Florida earning NIL money also cannot use their school’s logo and cannot take money from NIL collectives. Outside of those few limitations, Floridians are free to earn as they choose in similar fashion to college or professional athletes.
Admittedly, I was shocked to see there were 35 states which had previously given the go ahead to high school NIL. I don’t think I can recall any instances of a high schooler in Pennsylvania or California gaining money off of sponsorships. Maybe I wasn’t looking hard enough.
As much as I have championed for college athletes to gain NIL status, I’m a bit dubious of NIL at the high school ranks. With a standard high school program in most states, coaches might be part-time or even volunteering. Most coaches teach a class or even work an office position. Personally, I think it would be quite an awkward position for a school to have a coach making something like $45,000 to coach a team with a three-star athlete taking six-figure NIL money from his uncle's car dealership. I have never coached football, and maybe it wouldn’t make a difference, but I can see how that would be a strange position to be in for both parties.
Seniority and even a sense of caste helps keep things in order. I could easily see an instance of a 16-year-old quarterback already pocketing a quarter million because he competed in a big showcase deciding he no longer cares what his history teacher calls on the football field due to making more money. That same quarterback could be at a different school the very next week.
NIL in high school seems to also lessen the importance of even going to school at all. In college, there have been recent talks about players working as contractors through the college and not even going to class. Last week, colleges across the nation met to discuss colleges and universities directly paying players. Why would those conversations not persist among high schools in time?
With as many states that have given the green light to high school NIL, there is no turning back. Geographically, Florida, Louisiana and Georgia are the only southern states to have made this a reality. Alabama and the AHSAA are steadfast in their stance against high school NIL, and we could all predict that to continue.
I really don’t know where this leaves high school athletics, but I do anticipate this making private schools far more popular for big time athletes and transferring to become far more rampant.
The window to earn money in four years of high school and a few years of college is far wider than that of a professional career, and it would make sense if someone would want to capitalize on it. Do I like it? I don’t think so. Do I understand it? Absolutely.
This is the athletic world we live in now though. It is strange and new and only will get stranger. Where we go from here is anyone’s guess, but my guess is we will be following the money.
Henry Zimmer is the sports editor of The Outlook.
