The proposal failed by a margin of 538-254.
Ohio, United States— Editor’s note: The video in the player above is from a story originally aired on April 29, 2022.
Ohio high school athletes will not be able to enjoy their name, image and likeness, the Ohio High School Athletic Association announced on Tuesday morning.
The NIL proposal was overturned by a vote of 538 to 254 and would have meant that high school athletes could have earned money through endorsements in a manner similar to college athletes since July 1, 2021.
“Each year, the referendum voting process shows that our member schools have a voice in this democratic process,” said OHSAA CEO Doug Ute. “Our office was very pleased with the discussion and ideas expressed by our schools this spring when we met with them about each of the 14 proposals. If NIL is going to enter the interscholastic landscape in Ohio, we want the schools to make that decision. Whatever we do in the future will include discussing this issue with our school administrators, board of trustees, staff, and leaders of other state high school athletic associations.
If the proposal were rejected, if a high school student-athlete signed a sponsorship agreement, they would lose their amateur status and be deemed ineligible to play OHSAA sports.
The NIL proposal was not the only one to fail in this vote, as a proposal to add an exception to the enrollment and attendance policy that would have allowed a student enrolled in a member public school who does not not sponsor a team sport to potentially play that sport in a public school located in an adjoining public school district also failed. This vote was much closer, failing by a close vote of 406 to 393.
Of the 14 new proposals, these are the only two that failed. The 12 that passed include one on eligibility, three on transfer situations and one on rewards.
For more information and full voting results, visit https://www.ohsaa.org/School-Resources/referendum-voting
