High school NIL proposal voted down
By CHUCK RIDENOUR Daily Globe Sports Editor
The Ohio High School Athletic Association’s Name, Image and Likeness proposal was rejected by an overwhelming majority, executive director Doug Ute announced Tuesday morning.
The NIL proposal was 1 of 14 referendum items put before high school principals of OHSAA members schools to vote on.
The NIL vote was 538-234. By rejecting the proposal, Ohio’s student-athletes remain unable sign endorsement deals without losing their amateur status.
The proposal mirrored recent changes made at the collegiate level and would have allowed student-athletes to sign endorsement agreements so long as their teams, schools and/or the OHSAA logo were not used, the endorsements did not happen on school property or in school uniform, and provided there were no endorsements with companies that do not support the mission of education-based athletics, such as casinos, gambling, alcohol, drugs and tobacco.
“Every year, the referendum voting process shows that our member schools have a voice in this democratic process,”
Ute said. “If NIL is going to enter the Ohio interscholastic landscape, we want the schools to be the ones to make that determination. Whatever we do moving forward, it will include discussion on this issue with our school administrators, Board of Directors, staff and leaders of other state high school athletic associations.”
Another key issue voted on was a new exception to the Enrollment and Attendance Bylaw and it failed by a 406393 margin.
That referendum item would have permitted a student enrolled at a member public school that does not sponsor a team sport to potentially play that sport at a public school located in a bordering public school district.
The vote count on this issue was the closest referendum outcome since Competitive Balance during the 2014 cycle when it failed 327-308 before it passed in the following cycle.