Northwestern players to form Union.
On Tuesday, backed by the United Steelworkers union, Ramogi Huma filed union cards signed by an undisclosed number of Northwestern University football players with the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”). Huma, a former UCLA linebacker and current president of the National College Players Association, submitted the form at the regional NLRB office. The question that now must be answered, but could take years to do so, is whether Northwestern football players are employees.
Huma was quoted as saying, “[t]his is about finally giving college athletes a seat at the table. ... Athletes deserve an equal voice when it comes to their physical, academic and financial protections.” However, NCAA chief legal officer Donald Remy disagrees, “[t]his union-backed attempt to turn student-athletes into employees undermines the purpose of college: an education. Student-athletes are not employees, and their participation in college sports is voluntary.”
Major college football and basketball programs generate billions of dollars in revenue for the NCAA and member schools, mostly through broadcast rights fees. The NCAA signed a 14-year, $11 billion contract in 2010 with CBS for the broadcast rights to the NCAA men’s basketball tournament. ESPN pays the group that administers the college football playoffs, not the NCAA, about $475 million annually. If the NLRB sides with players, those players will have a seat at the negotiation table for the first time.
Read the ESPN Article Here.