Do you want to be in a med Yeah, I am sick for the pup baby, sick for the one o'clock today women go eh Men beat Sweden to one in overtime. Fantastic, fantastic. All right, Scott's throwing back with you. Hope you're doing well. Back half of the week upon us here on this Thursday morning. If you have a kid, maybe a grandkid, maybe a nephew and niece, they play high school sports in Ohio, a new law could block them from making
money off their talent. So lawmakers are working on legislation to prevent Ohio high school student athletes from earning name, image, likeness NIL compensation. Some of the key points real quick here Ohio, we are one of forty five states that allows some form of high school NIL. And the way the new proposal would work if passed in the law is a student earning compensation from an NIL deal would lose eligibility in that specific sport, but remain eligible another.
So if you're a multi sport athlete, if I don't know, you get some NIL endorsement for football, you're no longer eligible for playing that sport. We had testimony from Steve Speck who is a coach at Dea Xavier, and Jonathan Cooper, superintendent Mason High School, testifying as proposed the bill, are concerned about pay to play, the culture, and also team cohesion. Joining the show is the co sponsor of this piece of legislation. That would be the esteemed Representative Adam Byrd
out of New Richmond. This morning on seven hundred WLW.
How are you, Tony. It's great to be with you. We've had a busy week in Columbus this week, but it's an honor to serve the people of southern Ohio.
Okay. So I look at this, and you know I'm more at libertarian, so I'll disagree somewhat. I push back on this, but the Ohio High School Athletical Associates said, like, I think it's four hundred and forty seven members. Schools already voted for Nile with guardrail, so why override that decision the schools made themselves.
Well that's a great point, but if you take a look deeper at the number, Sony, about fifty five percent of the schools voted yes, About forty five percent of the schools voted no or abstained. And I have it on good authority with conversations that many people that voted
guests didn't really want to. They held their nose and they did it because OHSAA was asking them to, and they were OHSAA is asking them to do this because of one judge in Franklin County that issued a temporary restraining order on a judgment on a kid from Dayton. So you know, it's I don't think that we should be sitting around making making decisions of this importance based on what one judge in Franklin County says.
Okay, so I guess the current flame. Well, let me back up a second. We're one of forty five states that allow nil, some almost an entire country at this point. Are you concerned at all this with our student athletes at a competitive disadvantage when it comes to recruiting and visibility compared to other states.
Yeah, good point on that, And I have two points on that. Number One, when you look at and I've done the research from the National Association of State Legislatures and those states that are allowing it, overwhelmingly, they are doing it because the athletic governing body has made that decision and not their state legislat so they stayed out of it, and I think that's a problem, and and you know, it's it. I think that we use that
sometimes to make an argument for it. And then secondly, I've spoken to Ohio State University athletic director and they don't care about this. They don't think it hurts their recruiting. I suspect University of Cincinnati and Xavier think the same thing because they're international recruiters, they're national recruiters. They get five star recruits from California, Florida, Texas all the time.
So if a if a kid were to leave the state of Ohio as a high school athlete to earn nil money elsewhere, Ohio State would still be able to recruit them and get them back here.
Gotcha?
Do they go?
What does getting it right look like? I mean, it is a total ban really necessary on this, I mean, and as it also as it tended to be in permanent. Is this just a pause while more refined policies developed? And so what's the timeline? There A lot of elements to that question.
Go ahead for sure, and so as far as the timeline of this bill goes, you know, we had a proponent testimony this week in Columbus next week. We'll hopefully I've gotten permission from the chair of the committee to have a few more proponent testimonies, but they'll also be opportunity next week for opponents of the bills to come and testify. And so, you know, my goal would be to have this in place for next school year. And as you know, whenever the governor signed a bill, it
doesn't become law for ninety days. So I've got to get this done and all the way to the Governor's desk by June in order to get it done by next school year. So that's a tough timeline. It's a big lift, and I realized that. And also as far as the bill goes, can it be changed. Of course, it can be changed as part of the legislative process. Amendments happen all of the time, so we'll see how.
That goes, okay, But this would be an outright ban on all of it too. And we've talked to the past about this representative bird. You know, the I guess critics and I'm on this side it as a as a student, don't you have a right? You're really you're basically overring a overwriting a right, students already legally have. You're rolling back an opportunity for minors to earn income
if you're really, really good. I don't know if you're an artist, if you're a musician, if you are, I don't know, name a scale a kid has if you can monetize that, why just drawn on exception for sports as opposed to other ways or kids to earn money.
Yeah, so there's there's a lot of there's a lot of issues here. And that's always a good question that you asked me on this, sony. And and so you know already you've got parents and students who are yelling at the coach demanding more time. You're you're you're costing my kid a scholarship because you're not playing them. Well, now they're going to add to that, you're costing my kid an nil deal because you're not putting my kid
in the game. And uh. And so there's all clients that there's going to be all kinds of inequality and unfair advancedantage to the rich school versus the poor school. Who has you know, the businesses and wealthy alumni that can afford to give an il deals. You're going to have inequality when it comes to male female We've seen that already at the college level. You've got the star versus the average kid. And we're going to give the the quarterback a big deal. Why the offensive lineman protecting
yet nothing? And then how about this lony. I talked yesterday in Columbus to a sports agent, a licensed sports agent in Ohio. These unscrupulous supports agents that are not licensed are already taking advantage of students by signing them to twenty percent deals that give the agent twenty percent of the nil money. So these kids are already going to get are already getting exploited by unscrupulous people.
Well, how is someone charging to see for their services exploiting them? I mean, I can say the same thing about kids who work and have to pay taxes. I might have to now grated they don't, but I guess hire a tax professional because I don't know why do? It isn't the same, you know, it's a service you have. It's you're taking a percentage of their income, which is well, you know, welcome to the real world. That's how I would say. A lot of this is like, well, that's
the real world working. They're that you know, some people are born with a skiller set and they get elevated above other people have to work in scrap. That's part of it, right.
Well, I'm not talking about the fact that they get a cut. I'm talking about the percentage twenty percent. As Joe Burrow what he thinks about twenty percent for his agent. Uh, there's no way NFL agents don't charge that much. It's like three, four or five percent. Sure, twenty percent is an outrageously exploitive amount for these sharky kinds of people that are out there hovering around kids.
Well, okay, if that's the case, so why not just regulate it like you do other industries. You know, there's if you think, if you think twenty percent is confiscatory, and I mean trial attorneys which Adam, you're surrounded by them, legislature, they get thirty three percent? Is that fair?
I see your point. I you know, I just I gave you reasons before why I think that that this is not that the best for kids. Uh, they're going to be exploited. And how about kids that will probably be exploited by their own parents on this money? You know, I got your you. Let's say I took you to the game. I'm going to siphon off some of this.
You know, we have child labor laws in America for a reason because kids have been exploited for years, and I think they're going to get exploited in this way too, if a.
I don't know. Okay, So let's not talk about what you talk about parents exploiting kids for financial gain. There are kids who work on farms or kids who work in restaurants. What's the difference.
Well, uh, you know that's part of part of the family heritage for sure. And uh, this is this is totally different. We're we're talking about destroying You've seen the direction that College Nil has taken that that game, and it is moving in the wrong direction. And we should
learn from the mistakes of the past. And you know when you see things like the University of Cincinnati quarterback leaving Cincinnati to go to Texas deck not because of a certain program or better educational opportunity, but so that he can get a five and a half million dollar deal, which is, by the way, is more than Shaudur standards is going to make in its entire five years old with the Browns.
Well, God bless America. If you can get that money, get that money, get that paper. I'm one hundred percent behind that. If you have a skill that no one else has and you can make money off it, it's your name, it's your image, of your likeness. I just don't see why that. You know, the argument in God Bless Them. I know Steve Speck at Saint x I was talking about this in this testimony that it may ruin team cohesion and a pay to play culture. But
guess what that's outside that. I think that horse has already left the barn. Representative Adam Bird out of New Richmond in that parents are the ones responsible this because I mean, we we train, you know, look at you know, if you're a dad and you want your kid to be athlete, the next Joe Burrow, something like that, and then there's kids that want to be the next Joe Burr, probably more than dad wants them to be. They're gonna
invest money. If you have the money in trainers, you're gonna have in coaches and clinics and all these things. And you know, if you're a kid who doesn't have the means you can if your family can't afford that. Yet, at the same time, it's it's like this whole thing is driven by that culture, the sports cluff. How the people who are testified against it get paid public money and bard to create these programs that cause that disparity
in the first place. I mean there, their whole job is basically to arrange athletics, which used to be a way for kids to be engaged in school and maybe get out of the house and have an activity. And now it's you know, every parent thinks their kid is the next Joe Burrow or Lebron James, and that we know that to be the case, but you can't tell mom or dad that they have travel teams and everything else.
Parents have created this culture because they've emphasized that that's really important in their lives.
Well, again, we go back to the reason why these programs exist, why we spend public money on providing these programs. You mentioned the pay for coaches, which bind of way, is not that much. Most coaches are getting paid about two dollars an hour, and so we do that because it's an extension of the classroom. We want to teach them teamwork and character and discipline and communication and leadership and all of these things. Fitness and and so that's
the reason it's an extension of the classroom. It takes you a better employee in the future, a better leader in the future, and that's the reason why we do that. And we have to protect the amateur status of these of these things. And if you want to go make money off of your your skills, then go to college a year early and earn inni ole money, go to the Olympics, go to a sports a professional sports league. And so I think it's really important that we protect you.
I guess I just don't understand how that underbinds all this because, as I said, you know, you have kids from different economic backgrounds, kids that the haves and have nots, and that that's that's got a source of attention among kids as well. I think that's just part of well society. That's just part of assimilation to the society in it.
So, I mean, did you play on a football or basketball team?
No? No football, no basketball. I was baseball, hockey and basically just staying around by myself.
Well there you go. I mean, so you have played on some team sports and you're going to create problems within that locker room. But when you have the star versus the average player, the average play. I mean, football is the greatest team sport ever imagine, And of course I would put hockey in there too, But but you're going to You're going to create problems in that locker room. You're going to dissolve team cohesion. It's going to be
a mess. You're going to have kids who more playing time so that I can get.
But don't you have that? But don't you have that now we're kids? Don't you have that?
Now?
Where kids are going for college scholarships? I mean, there are kids who are talented or are going to go on and play, and there's kids who are just like a bench farmers are crying out a lot like me. So I'm like, well, you're ready. That conflict's already built in, it's already there.
And now you're going to make it worse. And so, yes, there are there are kids who want to play, they want an opportunity, and now you're going to be blaming the coach. Uh And who's going to want to do that, sloany who's going to want to go put up with that crap? You're already yelling at me because your kids not that good. But yet you're blaming me, and now you're blaming me that your kids not getting in IL money.
Yeah. Yeah, but again that's a culture parents helped create, schools leaned into it as well. Let's say it may make it worse, but them are the rules, right, Yeah.
I got to protect our amateur system.
Yeah, I don't. I think amateurism has gone out the window early. I mean, everything has. Everything's for sale now these days. And I think also too. You know, private schools, public schools already on an even footing and recruiting. Does this address that disparity because you know they're schools in the listening area. We know that they wind up going in kids from across the country to come to school there. They take care of mom and dad with jobs whatever
it might be. And you know that's that's also exploitable, exploitative. Does it address that?
Are you talking about high school kids? I'm talking about highchoolor college?
I'm talking about how I'm talking about high schools.
Yeah, that should not be happening. It is, and it's exactly right, That's what I'm talking about here. They're not allowed to do it, but yet they're doing it anyway. And so do you think that OHSAA, who's supposed to be governing the recruiting or monitoring the fact that recruiting is not supposed to happen. You think they're going to be able to now add nil and add that into their ability to police. I just don't know.
I don't either. But it's like prohibition. We weren't able to enforce prohibition. Any time we ban something for a moral cause, and it's you know, you're just gonna have more black market. You're gonna make the problem worse. It's going to be you know, you think the twenty percent from an agent's kind of CD, imagine the backdoor deals that are going to get done that are getting done now or even prior to this whole thing. Isn't it going to make it worse?
No? No, we're trying to protect what we have. And if you're a student who is so talented, okay, I'm okay if you go to another state, and apparently Ohio State University is okay with it too, because they know they can still recruit you back. And uh, you know, we're trying to protect what has been an awesome learning
opportunity and growth opportunity. You know, schools are about a producing a workforce for business, the business community, growing kids so that they can be great and contributing members of our society here in America. And you're going to create winners and losers. You're going they're going to view it as a job, and you're going to create more inequality. And uh and and how about this, dy Uh it's
exploitation of kids who shouldn't really even be allowed. They're not legally allowed to sign a contract without their parents. And this is this is a problem.
All the parents would be the stewards of that. Again, you know, we we we should be allowed to make we no one's got the layers we open the show up with. No one really has the instruction of being the perfect parent. So I don't know if MO my dad are supervising. I guess I don't have a problem with that. I got to leave it at that. He is representative adm berta New Richmond. Always enjoy the conversation in the in the debate over this, and I know you're open mind enough to go, well, I want to
hear from student athletes. I want to hear from other people besides those who are against us as well, and then formulate good legislation for the people, which I love. Adam all the best. Thanks for jumping on this morning. I really appreciate it.
Hey, thanks, And I also want to throw a shout out to my joint sponsor with me on this bill, Mike Odeo, So from Green Township on the west side of Hamilton County. He's doing a great job with this bill. And we're going to have opponent testimony in Columbus next week planning, so we'll see who shows up.
Yeah, yeah, well let's follow up after that. See maybe I don't know, maybe it cause you to rethink some positions or reinforce them, so I know you you know you want to get it right. I appreciate that about you. Thanks again, buddy.
It might also cause might also cause you to rethink.
Maybe I'm you know what, I wanted to change my opinion in my mind. Absolutely give me some evidence is to why it's so bad we need to do this, and yeah, sure I'm open my enough to do it. So it's awesome. I appreciate men. Thanks again. All Right, we gotta get a news update. I want to talk about this more after the break here. And maybe you don't have a dog in the hunt with your kid, or maybe you did at one point, or you know,
it's such a polarizing issue. I just I guess I got some pushback, and I'll start with this, the idea that this destroys team cohesion. Didn't have time to really pick that apart, but I will after the break, and we'll get your calls and thoughts about this. Whether you should kids and their families be allowed to make these financial decisions engage in a contract in which they're compensated for the name, image, and likeness in high school sports.
Simple question, but a complex issue. We'll get your calls in afternoons on seven hundred W