Judge grants order for Ohio high school athletes to profit on NIL

CLEVELAND — An Ohio common pleas judge granted a temporary restraining order on Monday, which would allow high school athletes in the state to enter into deals that profit off their talent.

Franklin County Common Pleas Court Judge Jaiza Page issued her order on Monday, which could allow all students who are part of the 818 schools in the Ohio High School Athletic Association to enter into their own NIL deals.

Ohio is one of six states that has rules in place that don’t allow high school athletes to accept payments for their name, image and likeness. The others are Alabama, Indiana, Michigan, Mississippi and Wyoming.

Jasmine Brown, the mother of Jamier Brown, filed the lawsuit in Franklin County Common Pleas Court on Oct. 15 in her role as “parent or guardian.” Brown is a junior who attends Wayne High School in Huber Heights, Ohio, a suburb of Dayton. He is the top wide receiver prospect in the class of 2027. Brown has verbally committed to Ohio State University, which is in Franklin County.

Brown’s mother and attorneys stated that Brown has already missed out on more than $100,000 in potential NIL deals.

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“This is a significant ruling not only for Jamier but high school athletes across the state of Ohio. There are 44 states that allow high school athletes to enjoy that benefit through NIL,” said Luke Fedlam, Brown’s attorney with the Amundsen Davis law firm in Columbus.

OHSAA members decisively voted down an NIL proposal in 2022, 538-254. The OHSAA Board of Directors last month approved language for another NIL proposal that they planned to vote on in May. However, Monday’s ruling is likely to accelerate the timetable.

OHSAA spokesperson Tim Stried said, “the OHSAA anticipated the judge making an initial ruling today on the NIL lawsuit to set the timeline moving forward. The OHSAA is finalizing communications regarding the next steps for our member schools and will send out details on Tuesday.”

Another hearing on a preliminary injunction is scheduled for Dec. 15.

“It’s important for folks to understand high school NIL is different from college NIL,” Fedlam said. “There are guardrails that have been in place that protect the integrity of sport and competition. In college we have seen collectives for NIL to recruit and retain. That does not exist at the high school level. Most states have the regulations that do not allow collectives and how they can transfer and maintain eligibility.”