NIL in Florida? FHSAA to discuss Name, Image and Likeness at next board of directors meeting

The Palm Beach Post | By Jon Santucci | February 20, 2024

The Florida High School Athletic Association’s Board of Directors plan to discuss Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) during its upcoming meeting.

The FHSAA board is scheduled to meet Sunday and Monday in Gainesville. The agenda was released Tuesday. The FHSAA has not yet revealed what is in its plan for NIL.

The FHSAA exclusively told the USA Today Florida Network in October that the staff was working on an NIL plan to present to the board. A nine-question survey was released by the FHSAA in January to get the public’s input on the issue.

Florida currently is in the minority of states that do not allow student-athletes to sign NIL deals. The Georgia High School Association approved a bylaw allowing student-athletes to profit from NIL in October. Georgia became the 30th state, as well as the District of Columbia, to allow high school athletes to profit from NIL.

In an exclusive interview with the USA Today Florida Network in December, FHSAA Executive Director Craig Damon said he was hesitant to see NIL in Florida because of the high number of student-athletes transferring schools each year.

“A major difference almost all the other 50 state associations that are members of the NFHS have over Florida is they have strict transfer regulations in place,” Damon said. “These regulations are designed to help mitigate recruiting. Without transfer regulations, our association would have difficulty governing it in a manner to protect our student-athletes.”