Marketing deals trickle down from NCAA to high school sports

CLEVELAND — Ian Jackson and Johnuel “Boogie” Fland are among the brightest stars in the firmament of high school basketball and now have business deals to prove it.

The New York City teens and friendly rivals are cashing in on their name, image and likeness through marketing contracts often referred to as NIL deals. The contracts have begun to trickle down to the high school level after the NCAA’s decision last year to allow college athletes to monetize their stardom.

Seven states, though not Virginia, have so far approved the deals for prep athletes. Other states, such as Ohio, continue to debate whether NILs would sully high school sports.

Jackson and Fland, who are ranked as top college prospects for the 2024 graduating class, are paid a percentage of sales on a merchandise company’s products carrying their likeness and are given four-figure monthly checks to post about the brand on social media.

Jackson, 16, said he is saving the money he earns from the merchandise company Spreadshop and several other deals to buy a home for his family.

Fland, 15, also said he wants to help his family.

“It’s been a very big deal,” he said. “All the hard work is finally paying off.”

In Ohio, high school principals began voting May 1 on whether to change the state high school athletic association’s bylaws to allow athletes to sign deals.

“A lot of us here at the OHSAA and school administrators don’t like NIL,” said Ohio High School Athletic Association spokesperson Tim Stried. “We wish we weren’t having to deal with this, but it’s not going away.”

Karissa Niehoff, CEO of the National Federation of State High School Associations, said NIL rights for high school athletes could prove disruptive, but she said, “I don’t think we’re going to see a lot of this.”

The issue of NIL deals for high school athletes follows a U.S. Supreme Court decision last June that said the NCAA cannot restrict education-related compensation benefits for the country’s nearly 500,000 college student-athletes. Since then, Alaska, California, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, Louisiana and Utah have created laws or policies allowing NIL compensation for high school athletes.