Member schools of the Ohio High School Athletic Association have voted in favor of an emergency bylaw referendum on Name, Image and Likeness (NIL), making Ohio the 45th state to allow NIL at the high school level.

The voting period ended last Friday afternoon, November 21, with the final voting results being 447 schools in favor of the referendum and 121 schools voting against, while 247 schools abstained from voting. 

The new bylaw goes into effect immediately, meaning that OHSAA student-athletes can now enter into agreements and be compensated for their name, image and likeness through appearances, licensing, social media, endorsements, and/or the use of branding based on their public recognition or notoriety.

The bylaw also establishes reporting procedures and limitations so that students do not jeopardize their eligibility as it relates to the OHSAA’s recruiting and amateur bylaws. 

The emergency referendum vote was in response to a Franklin County judge’s temporary restraining order prohibiting the enforcement of the OHSAA NIL restrictions. It was entered by the Court after a lawsuit was filed on October 15 by Jasmine Brown on behalf of her son, Jamier, an OSU football recruit from the Dayton area.

Brown’s attorney, Luke Fedlam of the Amundsen Davis law firm, told the Columbus Dispatch that the lawsuit will now be dismissed. In addition to asking for injunctive relief, the complaint sought $100,000 in damages for deals lost because of the OHSAA restrictions at that time.

Doug Ute, OHSAA Executive Director, said in a press release, “Whether our schools or individuals agree with NIL at the high school level or not, the courts have spoken on this issue across the country that the NCAA and high school athletic associations cannot prevent a student-athlete from making money on their NIL.” 

The OHSAA said that it had, over the last year and a half, developed the NIL bylaw proposal in consultation with an NIL committee composed of school administrators, the OHSAA board of directors, which is elected by the member schools, and from member school feedback at regional update meetings.

“Our member schools helped develop this language,” said Ute in the release. “Now the real work begins, because this will be a continually evolving piece of high school athletics. The OHSAA will track NIL deals and make sure that our recruiting bylaws and transfer bylaws are still enforced, which is something our member schools have asked for throughout this process.”