Georgia high school board to discuss NIL amendment banning student-athletes from joining Collectives

If approved, the new language will forbid student-athletes from being a member of or receiving benefit from a Collective or NIL Club

The GHSA is meeting to discuss its NIL policy for high school athletes. / Photo by SBLive Sports

When the Georgia High School Association (GHSA) Board of Trustees meets on Thursday, July 18th, Dr. Robin Hines, outgoing Executive Director of the GHSA, will address the board on an amendment to Appendix "N" of the GHSA Bylaws, which pertains to the state's policy on Name, Image and Likeness (NIL).

The amendment, if approved, specifically forbids student-athletes from GHSA member schools from being "a member of" or "receive compensation or any other benefit from a Collective of NIL Club."

The proposed amendment appears to tighten up any potential loopholes in the state's NIL policy as it relates collectives and NIL clubs. The drafting of this amendment follows a directive from Hines, late last month, in which he warned student-athletes of risks to their eligibility should they take part in certain NIL activities.

He specifically mentioned a NIL Club, named the NIL Club, which opened its service up to high school athletes in June after previously being exclusive to college athletes. The NIL Club is a private organization which pays member athletes for exclusive use of their digital online content, based on subscriptions to individual athlete pages and the amount of traffic those pages generate.

RELATED: GHSA alerts student-athletes of eligibility risks surrounding certain NIL deals

Since Wednesday some SBLive Sports reporters who cover Georgia have been inundated with emails, each containing the same form letter, in opposition to the proposed amendment and in support of the NIL Club. As of this post, this reporter has received more than 100 of these messages.

The letter expresses disappointment over the proposed amendment and accuses the GHSA of discriminating against non-elite athletes in Georgia.

"It appears as though the GHSA either does not want student-athletes to earn money at all, or they only want the superstars to benefit and not the other 200,000 student-athletes who make high school sports so special," stated the letter. "If that is the case, it might be more honest to ban NIL activities entirely rather than create an environment where only a select few can benefit. The proposed approach is discriminatory and discouraging for the majority of student-athletes who are trying to make a positive impact and learn important life lessons through these activities."

The letter also specifically defends the NIL Club.

"This proposed amendment appears to be specifically targeting the NIL Club app and its users, which feels incredibly unfair and overly restrictive given this is the only way many of us are making money from NIL."

None of the letters were signed and all were sent to the same email list.

One flaw in the discrimination argument is the fact that elite athletes would seem to be the ones who would most benefit from participating with the NIL Club, as their pages would garner the most subscriptions and traffic. Unknown athletes, especially ones in low profile sports, would likely receive very little financial benefit.

Below is the text of the Amendment to Appendix N:

AMENDMENT TO APPENDIX "N" OF THE GHSA BYLAWS

Appendix N of the GHSA Bylaws is hereby amended as follows:
By adding thereto the following language to the guidelines in effect for NIL activities:

No student-athlete may be a member of nor receive compensation or any other benefit from a Collective or NIL Club. A Collective is defined as any group organized or existing for the purpose of compensating or benefiting an individual student athlete or a group of student athletes of a member school. NIL Clubs are defined as a group of student athletes organized or existing for the purpose of soliciting funds or other benefits from fans, members or other sources, managing or promoting NIL activities of student athletes or otherwise providing funds or other benefits to an individual student athlete or group of student athletes.
Booster Clubs are not considered Collectives or NIL Clubs if such Booster Club is operated under the supervision of a member school and provides monetary or other benefits to school athletic facilities, school athletic equipment, school team meals or other school team benefits rather than to an individual student athlete or group of student athletes.
Student athletes violating this guideline may be subject to loss of eligibility to compete in GHSA activities and any member school which knowingly allows any student athlete to violate these guidelines may be subject to fines, forfeiture of contests, probation and being declared ineligible to compete in post season GHSA contests or activities.

- GHSA