The Future of College Athlete Players Unions: Lessons Learned from Northwestern University and Potential Next Steps in the College Athletes' Rights Movement

Authors

Marc Edelman, Zicklin School of Business

Abstract

On January 28, 2014, the Northwestern University football players filed a petition with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) seeking to become the first group of college athletes to form a union. Although the NLRB'S Thirteenth Region concluded that Northwestern University grant-in-aid college football players constituted "employees" under the National Labor Relations Act, the NLRB Board Members nevertheless declined to assert jurisdiction because they believed the proposed bargaining unit would not "promote stability in labor relations."

This Article explores the future prospects for organizing Football Bowl Subdivision football players and Division I men's basketball players after the NLRB's decision in Northwestern University. Part I of this Article provides a brief overview of US. labor law and introduces the unique labor dynamics of big-time college sports. Part II explores labor organizers' recent attempts to unionize the grant-in-aid football players on the Northwestern University college football team. Part III describes potential strategies for unionizing alternative bargaining units of elite college athletes. Finally, Part IV analyzes the interplay between unionizing college athletes and challenging the NCAAs restraints on college athlete pay under section 1 of the Sherman Act.

Disciplines

Education Law | Entertainment, Arts, and Sports Law | Labor and Employment Law | Law

Recommended Citation

Marc Edelman, The Future of College Athlete Players Unions: Lessons Learned from Northwestern University and Potential Next Steps in the College Athletes' Rights Movement, 38 Cardozo L. Rev. 1627 (2017).
Available at: https://larc.cardozo.yu.edu/clr/vol38/iss5/2