NIL in Florida's high schools will be different than in Georgia. Here's why

When the Florida High School Athletic Association passes the Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) bylaw next week, is this opening a Pandora's box or much ado about nothing?

The FHSAA board will vote on NIL during Tuesday's meeting. FHSAA staff has been working on the framework of a policy that would allow high school athletes to benefit from NIL since at least October. The FHSAA board has held at least two workshops and revised the bylaws in recent months.

The proposal appears to have enough support to be adopted.

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If so, what then?

The state of Georgia, whose state athletic association adopted the NIL charter in October, may provide some insight into what is to come in Florida – a relatively quiet transition that has affected few players.

Or the apocalyptic scenario some fear could come to pass: that NIL is less about companies making marketing deals and more about schools finding a covert way to recruit and pay children to participate in sports.

How did NIL work in Georgia?

In the five months between the vote to approve NIL in early October and the start of the spring sports season in early February, only 33 students signed contracts, according to Dr. Robin Hines, executive director of the Georgia High School Association.

Julian Lewis, a five-star quarterback from Carrollton High (Georgia), has signed several NIL contracts, including Leaf Trading Cards, jewelry brand Jaxxon, Alo Yoga and rapper Travis Scott's clothing company Cactus Jack. Athletes First, the agency representing Lewis, did not respond to a request for comment.

Lewis, however, is the exception. According to the National Federation of State High School Association's 2022-2023 participation survey, 33 students represent 0.016 percent of the state's student-athletes.

If Florida signed the same number of student-athletes to ZERO contracts, that would be approximately 48 players.

“Given what's happened in other states, I wouldn't expect a rush at all,” said Mit Winter, an attorney specializing in college sports law at Kennyhertz Penny Law in Kansas City, Missouri. “I think people overestimate how much of this happens at the high school level.”

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“If you're not one of the absolute top players – top 20 or top 50 in national football or top 10 or top 20 in basketball, male or female – you probably won't get a contract. Most high school athletes don't get a contract at all.”

Winter said concern about NIL is largely due to fear of the unknown.

“It's so new and people aren't used to it,” he said. “There's going to be some fear.”

Dr. Hines said the response he has received from Georgia schools has been “positive.”

“There was a lot of interest at first, but now it's hardly mentioned at all,” Dr. Hines said. “Schools are realizing that despite recruitment, undue influence and amateur rules, nothing has changed.”

Why there will likely be more NIL deals in Florida

It is safe to assume that more players will sign NIL contracts in Florida than in Georgia.

Florida has 16 high school football players on On3's Top 100 NIL ratings list, while Georgia has 11. Florida is also home to national sports giants like IMG and Montverde Academy, schools whose rosters are comprised of elite players from across the country.

Montverde senior forward Cooper Flagg, a freshman at Duke, has the highest NIL rating in On3's high school basketball rankings at $1.4 million. (At No. 2 is California guard Bryce James, son of NBA star LeBron James.) Flagg is one of seven Montverde players in the top 100. IMG has two players on the basketball list.

Not only is IMG a football powerhouse that has produced at least one first-round NFL draft pick in five consecutive years, it also boasts elite athletes in multiple sports.

Dan LaForest, a sports agent and NIL director for Influencer Counsel in Lake Mary, said several well-known student-athletes and their families have already contacted him in advance of the FHSAA vote.

LaForest expects several players to sign contracts in Florida, but adds that overall things will be “very benign.”

“I think it depends on what actually gets approved (by the FHSAA),” he said. “Ultimately, what are the opportunities really for high school students from a branding perspective? I think in the beginning it will be very innocuous, because how do they find NIL deals? Is it agents who have marketing relationships? Is it parents who make calls on behalf of student-athletes? Then there are the contracts. Who is going to review the contracts? What does that look like?”

Florida's open enrollment policy, NIL and recruitment fears

Florida differs from other states in its open enrollment policy. Simply put, a student can easily transfer as long as the school they are transferring to has an opening.

According to longtime recruiting analyst Larry Blustein, at least 236 football players in Broward and Miami-Dade have transferred schools since the end of the 2023 season. That number will rise this summer. And that only affects two districts.

FHSAA Executive Director Craig Damon recently brought the idea to the board of directors that NIL could be used to restrict transfers, but several board members immediately voiced their opposition. The only restriction in the proposed charter is that a student-athlete cannot enter into a NIL contract if he or she transfers during the season.

Damon told the USA Today Florida Network in December that his biggest concern with NIL is the state's open enrollment policy.

“This has been discussed in the past because this is how other states handle it because of their transfer rules,” said David LaRosa, athletic director for Lee Country School District. “OK, we have very liberal transfer rules in Florida, so it's going to be even harder to control this and make sure things are done right.”

Other states have much stricter transfer laws that make it nearly impossible for schools to use NIL to recruit players. Florida, on the other hand, had several influential football players transfer during the season and retain their eligibility last year. That list includes a trio of players who left North Florida Christian for Wakulla on the eve of the playoffs last season.

“In most states, you have to take a six-month or full-year break if you transfer for sports,” Winter said. “I could imagine NIL contracts playing a bigger role in recruiting in Florida.”

Several coaches across the state have expressed concern that deep-pocketed schools might find a way to use NIL deals to recruit student-athletes to their schools.

Miami Edison football coach Luther Campbell said Florida and Georgia are “completely different calibers” because of the open enrollment policy and the ability of schools to manipulate the system.

“In Georgia, you can't transfer freely,” Campbell said. “This place is the wild, wild west. There are no borders anymore. Georgia is completely different. You have to get the transfer thing over with first. It becomes a battle of all against all. The rich get richer and the poor get poorer.”

“It’s going to be crazy because of the open transfer rule.”

– Dan Deluca contributed to this report.

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NIL in Florida's high schools will be different than in Georgia. Here's why

How did NIL work in Georgia?

Why there will likely be more NIL deals in Florida

Florida's open enrollment policy, NIL and recruitment fears

Anna Harden

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How did NIL work in Georgia?

Why there will likely be more NIL deals in Florida

Florida's open enrollment policy, NIL and recruitment fears

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