Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine signed an executive order Monday that could allow college student-athletes in the state to monetize their name, image and likeness beginning on Thursday.
The order is based on the original NIL Senate bill proposed by Ohio Sen. Niraj Antani (R-Miamisburg) on May 24.
"Athletes will naturally want to go to college in states where they can earn money and remain eligible to play. Without setting these rules, Ohio college athletic programs would be at a severe disadvantage," DeWine said Monday.
Antani's initial Senate bill was widely expected to pass without controversy before language regarding transgender participation in girls’ sports was added to the bill as an amendment last week.
DeWine released a statement this past Friday to signal that he disapproved of the last-minute amendment, which in turn led to the necessity of Monday’s executive order.
“This issue is best addressed outside of government, through individual sports leagues and athletic associations, including the Ohio High School Athletic Association, who can tailor policies to meet the needs of their member athletes and member institutions," DeWine said in the statement.
The order will still have to pass through Ohio legislature before it could officially go into effect by Thursday.
Just like in the original bill, student-athletes will be able to hire agents to assist in endorsements, but will not, however, be able to receive deals related to marijuana, alcohol, tobacco or casinos.
The Senate bill featured an emergency clause that would allow it to go into effect on Thursday due to the slew of other states around the country with similar laws set to begin on the same date, including Texas, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, New Mexico, Kentucky and Mississippi.
Antani, Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith, university president Kristina Johnson and former Buckeye quarterback Cardale Jones were all present at the signing on Monday. Jones and Ohio State head football coach Ryan Day both gave testimony to state Congress during hearings regarding the NIL bill over the past weeks, and Jones spoke briefly at the signing on Monday.
Antani said he reached out to inquire about the possibility of an executive order from DeWine after Kentucky's NIL law was recently passed in the same way.
Following the announcement of the proposed bill in May, the Ohio State Department of Athletics announced a partnership with Opendorse, an athlete marketing program that specializes in endorsement value, to launch an NIL educational program called THE Platform.
According to a university release, the program will allow student-athletes to receive assessments of their brand value, live consultations with experts, and access to a video series centered around brand building and financial literacy.
In advance of the expected passing of the bill, every Buckeye student-athlete was set to participate in five educational sessions in June.
While not directly related, this executive order comes just days after the Supreme Court ruled in favor of student-athletes in the NCAA v. Alston case, delivering a significant blow to the NCAA’s amateurism model by disallowing a cap to be placed on the amount of education-based benefits universities can offer student-athletes.
A number of Ohio State football players have posted on social media about their excitement for the coming changes to the landscape in college sports, including presumptive starting quarterback C.J. Stroud.
“Of course our student-athletes are gonna be excited about this, and the ones I’ve talked to personally, they’re anxious, they’re jacked up, they have ideas, they’re setting themselves up,” Smith said at a press conference in May.
