Most high-school NIL deals start with someone you already know — a kid who trains at your gym, eats at your restaurant, works your counter on Saturdays. The hard part was never finding them. It's the paperwork, the disclosure, and the fact that when it goes wrong, it goes wrong on you.
Already have someone in mind? Good — that's how these deals actually happen. No one in mind? Tell us your market, your budget, and what you sell. We'll introduce you to a coached athlete who fits, if the family opts in.
Written agreement. Parent as a signing party. The OHSAA affirmation signed by student and parent, notarised, and filed inside the 14-day window. The athlete briefed on disclosure before a single post goes up. You contract directly with the family.
What the campaign actually delivered — posts, reach, engagement — in one report you can hold up next to what you paid. Renew on evidence. Any projection is labelled as a projection.
Not on the agency. Not on the kid. Four things most local businesses don't know before they sign:
Under the FTC's endorsement guides, the advertiser is responsible for disclosing a material connection — and can be liable even when the endorser is not. Free product counts the same as cash. Paying a kid in gear is still a paid endorsement.
A 16-year-old can disaffirm an agreement, and a parent's signature doesn't extinguish that right. If the parent isn't a named party to the contract, you may not have one.
Ohio requires every arrangement reported to OHSAA within 14 days, with a notarised affirmation. Late or missing can cost up to 20% of a season. School logos and uniforms are barred from paid posts — including the photo the athlete was about to use.
Child-labour rules apply to minors doing paid work, including content. It is the least-discussed exposure in high-school NIL and it sits with the party doing the contracting.
The worst version isn't a fine. It's a local kid losing a season because of a deal with your name on it, in a town where everybody knows both of you. That's what we're actually selling you insurance against. Guidance, not legal advice — we're coaches, not attorneys.
Ohio's high-school athletic association reported 32 NIL agreements across roughly 350,000 student-athletes in the last reporting year — about half of them commission arrangements tied to promo codes, and most of the rest modest combinations of product and limited compensation. That's OHSAA's own testimony to the Ohio legislature.
So we're not going to promise you a marketplace with thousands of athletes bidding for your business. What we'll tell you is that a local athlete with a real, engaged, nearby audience is a genuinely efficient way to reach your own town — and that doing it properly costs less than doing it wrong.
Sponsors pay a flat fee for the paperwork, the filing, and the measurement. Families contract directly with you and keep 100% of the deal. No commissions on either side means nobody at the table has a reason to inflate anything — you get honest numbers, they get honest advice. Founding sponsor terms are set at launch; the list gets them first.
Ohio first. Tell us who you are and whether you already have an athlete in mind — we'll tell you what it takes to do it right.