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College Football Players Can Unionize, Landmark Labor Ruling Says
Scholarship football players at Northwestern University can unionize because they are, in fact, employees of the school. That was the landmark decision that came down from a regional director of the National Labor Relations Board on Wednesday, a ruling that could rock the very foundation of big-time college sports.
Northwestern said it plans to appeal the ruling to the NLRB's national office. But the Wednesday decision by the body's Chicago regional director, Peter Sung Ohr, represents a pivotal moment in the rapidly escalating controversy over how college athletes should be compensated for the massive piles of revenue generated by football and men's basketball, in particular.
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"I have found that all grant-in-aid scholarship players for the Employer’s football team who have not exhausted their playing eligibility are 'employees,'" wrote Ohr in his decision, which referenced the National Labor Relations Act. (You can read Ohr's entire 24-page ruling here.)
That position directly opposes the policy the NCAA — college sports' governing body — has maintained since, well, forever. That policy being: College athletes are simply amateur student-athletes who do not deserve financial compensation beyond their athletic scholarships.
The notion that college athletes — particularly those in revenue-generating sports — are employees who should be awarded scholarships and nothing more went unchallenged for decades. But as the amount of sponsorship, broadcasting and merchandising money generated by the NCAA and its partners has ballooned — last year's March Madness tournament alone generated $1.15 billion in advertising revenue — a chorus of dissent has risen among athletes, media and fans alike.
In just one example of the growing disparity, NCAA president Mark Emmert made $1.7 million last year, according to the organization's tax returns. Alabama football coach Nick Saban made more than $5 million in 2012, yet none of the players on Alabama's national championship-winning team that year could legally accept any compensation beyond their scholarships.
That's why Ohr's decision — regardless of Northwestern's eventual appeal — is being called a landmark ruling. It firmly sides with college athletes against the NCAA, and establishes a precedent that could be followed by the NLRB's national office or other bodies.
The case was brought to the NLRB by the College Athletes Players Association, a newly formed organization that seeks to represent the Northwestern football players who want to become the first to form a union of college athletes. The United Steelworkers Union also backed their petition, which was filed in February.
This latest legal turn comes after a number of other lawsuits were filed over the past three years by former NCAA athletes with the goal of unlocking more compensation for former players whose likenesses are used in merchandise and marketing materials. Illustrating the sensitivity of the issue, the NCAA immediately quit selling jerseys through its official site last year after ESPN commentator Jay Bilas went on an incendiary Twitter rant.
After Wednesday's ruling was revealed, former Northwestern quarterback Kain Colter, who has become the face of the movement, rejoiced on Twitter:
So proud of my teammates, Ramogi, lawyers, and supporters around the nation! This is a HUGE win for ALL college athletes! #APU
— Kain Colter (@KainColter_2) March 26, 2014
It's a "win" in one battle, to be sure, but the athletes' war is not yet won. Northwestern plans to appeal the ruling by its April 9 deadline, and both the school and the NCAA released statements opposing the decision.
But this is the clearest sign yet that the NCAA's amateur model may be living on borrowed time.
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