OHIO — The legal battle between a local football star and the Ohio High School Athletic Association (OHSAA) is making changes to the name, image, and likeness (NIL) ban.
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As reported on News Center 7 at 6:00, the OHSAA announced that it will hold an emergency vote on whether it should change its rules and let athletes make money off their name and image.
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The association said this is in response to a lawsuit filed by a Miami Valley high school football player’s family.
This win in court from the football standout and his family has basically forced the OHSAA’s hand.
Ohio high schools will now vote to make this permanent on their own or have the court decide it for them.
Wayne High School wide receiver Jamier Brown is one of the top high school football players in the country.
The Warriors junior standout has committed to play his college ball at Ohio State.
He could make all kinds of name, image, and likeness, or NIL, money once he gets to OSU.
But until Monday, he could not do the same at Wayne.
The OHSAA currently has an NIL ban, which is why the family sued the association.
The family lawyer, Luke Fedlam, took their argument to court and scored the first big win of this legal battle.
“We needed to ensure that OHSAA was enjoined or stopped from really having their prohibition on name, image, and likeness. And thankfully, we were successful,” Fedlam said.
A temporary court order from a judge in this case means NIL is allowed for Ohio high school sports for now.
“The Brown family really came at this wanting to change the rule and regulation prohibiting name, image, and likeness for high school student athletes for all high school student athletes across the state,” Luke Fedlam, Brown’s family lawyer, said.
The association said it will hold an emergency vote from high schools across the state sometime in the next 45 days.
That’s the same time frame covered by the judge’s temporary order.
OHSAA said it will release the language of the new bylaw proposal on Thursday.
A vote in favor of it would allow high schools across Ohio to shape a new NIL policy.
If it’s voted down, the association said the future of NIL in the Buckeye state, along with the Brown’s family lawsuit, will be decided in court.
As previously reported by News Center 7, high schools across Ohio voted down the first NIL proposal from the OHSAA by a more-than two-to-one margin in 2022.
Brown’s family has its short-term win.
The next hearing in the case is in mid-December.
After arguments, the judge will decide on a preliminary injunction, which is a longer-term order that will stay in place until the case is settled.
News Center 7 will continue to follow this story.
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