Gainesville, FL.- This morning (June 4) the FHSAA board of directors UNANIMOUSLY voted on the approval of NIL throughout high school sports.

Going forward, high school athletes of all sports across the state can now receive financial compensation for their Name, Image and Likeness. Florida now becomes the 36th state to approve NIL for high school student athletes.

The FHSAA spent countless hours drawing up guidelines ahead of this verdict to make sure that NIL could not be exploited for “recruiting” or “tampering”. The board also expressed numerous times that a school’s logo, design or insignia will NOT be used in any part of a marketing deal.

According to the board: NIL deals will ONLY be delegated by the athlete’s Parent/Guardian independently of the school. Athletes are ALLOWED to sign agents for NIL related purposes only. Schools are PROHIBITED from creating NIL Collectives or “enticing athletes to attend their school” via NIL.

Over the past few hours, high school sports as we know it has drastically changed. With NIL being such a controversial topic throughout the sports community, how do you believe this ruling will affect local sports?

COVER PHOTO CREDITS: Jack Bartlett