NIL Club and its impact on high school athletes in Florida
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The moment the Florida High School Athletic Association board unanimously approved “name, image and likeness” earlier this month, the door opened to a new world of opportunities and challenges.
A perfect example is the NIL Club platform, which has over 1,000 high school athletes from Florida enrolled.
According to co-founder and former Notre Dame running back Mick Assaf, the NIL Club has helped college student-athletes receive more than $10 million since 2021.
“I would describe NIL Club as being student-run fan communities,” Assaf said Tuesday. “The company we most identify with is Patreon. That’s the company we’re most comparable to. Subscribers are interested in seeing the creators, the students, succeed financially. The goal is to create online communities to provide fans with digital content behind a paywall. We have more than 200,000 college athletes on the platform. … That creates a lot of demand from high school athletes.”
Two weeks ago, NIL Club opened its platform to high school athletes and the result was immediate, unexpected growth. Thanks to the pre-existing waitlist and word of mouth, there were suddenly more than 50,000 high school students on the platform.
As of Monday morning, dozens of high school teams in the state of Florida have student-athletes on the platform, and some of these teams have already received support from people donating small amounts of money to them.
After a phone call between FHSAA Executive Director Craig Damon and Assaf, those teams were no longer listed on the platform on Monday afternoon.
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What does the FHSAA say about the NIL Club?
The FHSAA posted a letter to school principals and athletic directors on its website Friday that specifically mentions the NIL Club. The main issue appears to be timing.
“It is extremely important that you note that FHSAA Bylaw 9.9 Amateurism and Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) will NOT be implemented until it is ratified by the State Board of Education,” the letter states. “Specific instructions for implementation will be provided to member schools by the FHSAA following ratification. Until then, FHSAA Bylaw 9.9 Amateurism will remain in effect.”
The letter further stated that student athletes who profit from their name, image or likeness should face “sanctions up to and including loss of their amateur status.”
The State Education Committee meeting is scheduled for July 24.
Has the NIL Club taken down the high school pages in Florida?
Yes, temporarily. After the conversation between Damon and Assaf, Florida high school pages on the NIL Club were taken down until after the State Board of Education meeting. Assaf said no high school athletes in Florida have received money from the platform and will not be able to do so until the State Board of Education ratifies NIL.
“He (Damon) clarified the schedule and gave us information we can use,” Assaf said. “As a platform, we understand that NIL has different rules in high schools and we need to make changes to ensure the best practices set by each state’s governing body. We want to make sure students are in compliance and that everyone wins. They’re trying to protect the competitive environment and make sure the magic of high school sports isn’t lost.”
The FHSAA did not respond to several requests for comment.
How does the NIL Club work?
Student athletes sign up and create exclusive content that can be accessed behind a paywall. If multiple players from the same team sign up and create a piece of content, they receive an equal share of the profits. NIL Club receives 15 percent as a platform fee.
NIL Club currently has collegiate teams from traditional sports (soccer, volleyball, basketball) as well as non-traditional sports (eSports, dodgeball, etc.).
“There are a lot of people we can help start their financial journey,” Assaf said. “It’s an online business. If you don’t add value, your business won’t grow. I think it teaches a lot of good lessons like teamwork and responsibility. I don’t think it’s a platform that’s the only solution in the NIL space, but for certain students, it’s a great solution. I don’t think it’s going to be one of the biggest money makers for NIL in Florida, but we think it can be a place where people get their first entrepreneurial experience.”
NIL Club questions also in Georgia
Florida is not the only state grappling with the questions raised by the NIL Club – and examining whether the organization’s model is compatible with high school administrators’ planned vision for NIL.
While the Georgia High School Association approved NIL agreements in October 2023, the NIL Club has not yet received similar approval. On Monday, the Cobb County School District athletic department issued a stark warning to high school athletes, warning of potential participation issues related to the NIL Club.
“CCSD student-athletes: DO NOT download the NIL Club app or respond to text messages from this network. Doing so could jeopardize your eligibility and is unrelated to any approved NIL programs,” the district said.
Jones County School System Athletic Director Chad Alligood released a letter from the GHSA on Monday that also discourages athletic departments from the NIL Club.
“The GHSA considers participation in such NIL clubs to be a potential violation of the GHSA NIL policies set forth in Appendix N of the GHSA Constitution and bylaws, and GHSA member schools should immediately inform their students that joining such a NIL club could have serious consequences for their eligibility to participate in or continue to participate in GHSA activities, as well as for member schools’ ability to participate in GHSA-sponsored GHSA postseason events,” the letter states.
It warned that “the GHSA intends to fully investigate and enforce violations of its NIL rules, which may result in forfeiture of competitions, fines and loss of eligibility to participate.”
The letter also warned that posting team apparel, logos, game footage, mascots or other school-specific property violates Georgia NIL rules. It also said that any NIL club member who pays to view posted content while directly associated with a school as an employee or sponsor could jeopardize students’ eligibility.
Similar language regarding the use of team uniforms and logos can be found in Florida’s NIL regulations in newly amended statute 9.9.4.3: “Student-athletes are prohibited from monetizing their name, image and likeness through the use of their school’s uniform, equipment, logo, name, proprietary patents, products and/or copyrights associated with a member school of the FHSAA, NFHS and/or school district in public, in the press or on social media platforms unless they have received prior written permission from the school, district or governing body of the school or association.”
The NIL Club pages of several Florida schools featured students in what appeared to be school sports uniforms until the pages went dark.
In the Northeast, the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association has since sent similar warnings to schools via email. Like Georgia, New Jersey has already approved NIL in some other forms and will adopt its regulations in early 2022.
“Please advise your coaches and athletes that this activity is prohibited and not permitted under the NJSIAA NIL rules and that they should not join the NIL club or forward an invitation to their teammates,” the email concluded.
How much NIL education is available?
Dan LaForest, sports agent and NIL director of Influencer Counsel in Lake Mary, said an important component is educating both school staff and student-athletes about what they can and cannot do at this time.
“Ninety-nine percent of high school players and parents don’t understand the rules regarding NIL in Florida,” LaForest said. “Most don’t know that it was actually not approved until the Department of Education meeting on July 24.”
The FHSAA has taken steps to clarify the timeline as well as the potential consequences of violating current amateurism laws. The state could take additional action and implement a policy requiring school administrators to be educated about NIL.
Some other states have implemented similar plans. For example, the Louisiana High School Athletic Association has partnered with Eccker Sports to provide educational services and resources to help navigate the challenges associated with NIL contracts. In Louisiana, all school principals and athletic directors are required to complete the Eccker NIL Playbook Course, while coaches, student-athletes and their families have access to the courses.
It is also unclear whether the FHSAA may wait until the State Board of Education passes NIL legislation before addressing how best to educate schools and athletes.
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