NIL in Florida: What is NIL Club, and why have its Florida high school pages gone dark?

The moment the Florida High School Athletic Association's board of directors unanimously approved Name, Image and Likeness earlier this month, it opened the gate to a new world with opportunity and challenges.

The NIL Club platform, which more than 1,000 Florida high school student-athletes have signed up for, is a perfect example.

NIL Club has helped college student-athletes receive more than $10 million since 2021, according to co-founder and former Notre Dame running back Mick Assaf.

"The way that I would describe NIL Club is they are student-run fan communities," Assaf said Tuesday. "The business we think we're most aligned with is Patreon. That’s the business we draw most comparables to. The people that subscribe are interested in seeing creators, the students, success financially. The goal is to create online communities to provide paywall digital content to fans. For us, we have more than 200,000 college athletes on the platform. ... It creates a lot of demand from high school (athletes)."

Two weeks ago, NIL Club opened up its platform to high school athletes and the result was immediate unexpected growth. Between the preexisting wait list and word of mouth, suddenly more than 50,000 high school students were on the platform.

As of Monday morning, dozens of high school teams across Florida had student-athletes on the platform. A handful of those teams already had people giving nominal amounts of money to support them.

By Monday afternoon, following a phone call between FHSAA Executive Director Craig Damon and Assaf, those teams could no longer be found on the platform.

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What does the FHSAA say about NIL Club?

The FHSAA posted a letter to principals and athletic directors on its website Friday, which specifically mentioned NIL Club. The primary issue appears to be the timing.

"It is of the utmost importance that you note that FHSAA Bylaw 9.9 Amateurism and Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) is NOT to be implemented, until it is ratified by the State Board of Education," the letter states. "Specific directions for its implementation will be provided to member schools by the FHSAA upon ratification. Until then, FHSAA Bylaw 9.9 Amateurism, remains in effect."

The letter went on to say that student-athletes profiting from their name, image or likeness would be "subject to sanctions, including loss of amateur status."

The State Board of Education is scheduled to meet on July 24.

Did NIL Club deactivate Florida high school pages?

Yes, temporarily. Following the conversation between Damon and Assaf, the Florida high school pages on NIL Club have gone dark until after the State Board of Education meeting. Assaf said no high school student-athlete in Florida has received any money from the platform and will not be able to until after the state board ratifies NIL.

"He (Damon) clarified the timeline and gave us information we can use," Assaf said. "As a platform, we understand that high school NIL does present a different set of rules and we have to make changes to ensure best practices set forth by each state’s governing bodies. We want to make sure that students are compliant and make sure there’s a win-win there. They're trying to protect the competitive landscape and make sure there's no decay in the magic that is high school sports."

The FHSAA did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

How does 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 one, they will get an equal share of the profits. NIL Club takes 15% as a platform fee.

NIL Club currently has college teams from traditional sports (football, volleyball, basketball) as well as nontraditional sports (esports, dodgeball, etc.).

"For a lot of people, we can help begin their financial journey," Assaf said. "It's an online business. If you don't create value, then your business won’t grow. I think it teaches a lot of good lessons like teamwork and accountability. I don’t think it’s a platform that’s the only solution in the NIL space, but for certain students it’s an awesome solution. I don’t think it’s going to be one of the biggest sources of dollars for NIL in Florida, but we think it can be a place where people gain their first entrepreneurial experience."

NIL Club questions in Georgia, too

Florida isn't the only state grappling with the questions raised by NIL Club — and whether the organization's model is compatible with high school governing bodies' planned vision for NIL.

While the Georgia High School Association authorized NIL agreements in October 2023, NIL Club hasn't received a similar thumbs-up so far. On Monday, the Cobb County School District athletic department issued a strongly worded caution to high school athletes, warning of potential eligibility issues linked to NIL Club.

"CCSD Student-Athletes: Do NOT download the “NIL Club” app or respond to any text messages from this network. It could jeopardize eligibility and is not associated with any approved NIL programs," the district said.

Jones County School System Athletic Director Chad Alligood posted a letter on Monday from GHSA, which likewise dissuades athletic departments from NIL Club.

"The GHSA considers participation in such NIL Clubs to be a potential violation of the GHSA NIL policy set for in Appendix N of the GHSA Constitution and ByLaws and GHSA member schools should immediately notify their students that joining such an NIL Club could have serious consequences to their eligibility to compete or continue to compete in GHSA activities as well as to member schools' opportunity to participate in GHSA sponsored post season GHSA events," the letter read.

It warned that "the GHSA intends to fully investigate violations of and to enforce its NIL Rules which may result in forfeiture of contests, fines and loss of eligibility."

The letter also warned that posting team apparel, logos, game footage, mascots or other school-specific property would violate Georgia's NIL rules, and said that any NIL Club member who pays to view posted content while connected directly to a school as an employee or booster could jeopardize students' eligibility.

Similar language regarding use of team uniforms and logos exists in Florida's NIL regulations, within newly-amended Bylaw 9.9.4.3: "Student-athletes will be prohibited from monetizing their Name, Image, and Likeness with the use of their school's uniform, equipment, logo, name, proprietary patents, products and/or copyrights associated with an FHSAA member school, NFHS and/or school district, either in public, print, or social media platforms, unless granted authorization by prior written consent from the school, district or governing body of the school, or Association, respectively."

In NIL Club pages connected with multiple Florida schools, students were visible in what appeared to be school athletic uniforms until the pages went dark.

Meanwhile, in the Northeast, the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association emailed similar warnings to schools. Like Georgia, New Jersey has already approved NIL in some other forms, passing its regulations at the start of 2022.

"Please let your coaches and athletes know that this activity is prohibited and not allowable per NJSIAA NIL rules and they should not join the NIL club nor forward an invitation to their teammates," the email concluded.

How much NIL education is available?

Dan LaForest, sports agent and NIL director for the Influencer Counsel in Lake Mary, said a major component is educating both school staff as well as student-athletes on what they can and can’t do right now.

“Ninety-nine percent of high school players and parents don't understand the rules of engagement regarding NIL in Florida," LaForest said. "Most don't know that it actually hasn't been approved until the July 24 meeting of the Department of Education.”

The FHSAA took steps to clarify the timeline as well as the potential ramifications for violating the current amateurism bylaw. The state could take additional measures and implement a policy that requires school administration to be educated on NIL.

Some other states have instituted similar plans. For example, the Louisiana High School Athletic Association partnered with Eccker Sports to provide educational services and resources to help navigate the challenges that come with NIL contracts. In Louisiana, all school principals and athletic directors are required to take the Eccker NIL Playbook Course, while coaches, student-athletes and their families have access to the courses.

It's also unclear whether FHSAA may be waiting until the State Board of Education approves NIL legislation before starting down the road of how to best educate schools and athletes.

This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: NIL in Florida: What is NIL Club, and why have its Florida high school pages gone dark?