College FB Players Unionizing according to this report
- Thread starter BigJCy
- Start date
If players are not paid employees (since NIL is supposedly not pay for play lol) how can they legally unionize?
Everyone knows it’s pay for play, not NIL. It’s no surprise a B1G school is starting it, knowing how much money the conference/schools are getting because of them.
- Mar 27, 2006
- 40,829
- 28,324
- 113
Don't you have to be an "employee" to be part of a labor union? It may not be formally recognized by the department of labor. (not necessarily illegal, but not official).
Northwestern tried to do this a few years ago and it was shot down be the National Labor Board if I remember.
Yes.
N.L.R.B. Rejects Northwestern Football Players’ Union Bid (Published 2015)
The ruling was a victory for the college sports establishment and reaffirmed one of the N.C.A.A.’s core principles: that college athletes are primarily students.
Maybe they will try a new tactic.
- Mar 27, 2006
- 40,829
- 28,324
- 113
That ruling was revisited by the NLRB last fall and reversedYes.
N.L.R.B. Rejects Northwestern Football Players’ Union Bid (Published 2015)
The ruling was a victory for the college sports establishment and reaffirmed one of the N.C.A.A.’s core principles: that college athletes are primarily students.www.nytimes.com
Maybe they will try a new tactic.
NLRB: College football players are employees, can unionize
The NLRB memo revisited a case involving Northwestern football players who were thwarted from forming a union when the board in 2015 said that taking their side “would not promote stability in labor relations.”
www.courthousenews.com
Technically yes, they probably would be a union not recognized by the NLRB or protected by the NLRA. There is nothing illegal about that though.
If we ever want to get NIL under control and have a little more competitive balance a players union is probably needed.
Employment and CBA are the only way to bring order
Shoving big business into amateurism will eventually break- we’re at that point.
If we don’t want athletes to be able to transfer like normal students, compensate them for the value added to the business that comes with the stability transfer rules.
Would be surprised if NIL would be addressed by a players union or advocacy group.
I would think medical coverage, practice conditions, hours, coaching treatment and other cultural issues will be initial focus. The obvious bigger, future step is employee status for student athletes.
Employee status, unionization/collective bargaining are as big an issue as the realignment push. IMO could be a more transformational issue, as I think schools will have to decide which model they will support:
- Athletes as Employees (Minor League Sport & AD Separated from University)
- Ivy League Approach with more Unicorn & Rainbow Student/Athlete Approach
CBA brings antitrust protection, which in turn allows rules/limits on employees which can foster competitive balance. It's really the only way CFB will survive that I can see, so I think it is a good step in right direction.
If student athletes gained employee designation, I'm curious how that would affect their involvement as athletes. Iowa State requires that student employees work no more than 20 hours a week, I believe, and other universities have similar restrictions. Presumably teams and schools could find ways around that or would get rid of the policy if need be, but I assume there would be similar issues that could come up. The NCAA and athletic departments might not care much about maintaining the facade of the "student" part of "student athlete," but many universities still do.
The first option with athletes as employees sounds more correct if there will be all the privileges with this status and most importantly in my opinion is the pay.
Last edited:
But if athletes are employees, then universities open themselves up to liabilities that University Presidents may not want to face. What was the NFL CTE settlement? The NFL has 32 teams, there are about 66 P5 colleges.
What if athletes want lifetime medical expenses for sport related injuries? Would need to insure for knee replacement, shoulder replacement, etc. Most P5 schools have over 400 student athletes in any year.
I agree with ND's AD and many schools would choose participation in an Ivy League model. After all, the schools aren't getting rich off sport. Athletic Departments whether they are Texas, Kansas or Iowa State spend close to 100% of their revenue.
Sure college sport has benefited some schools, but I would be surprised if there is much impact for large state universities like ISU.