Might have known it would come out of Chicago. More sense of entitlement. Let them start paying their own tuition.
Whoa! Did not see that coming. This could eventually cause a major change in how college athletics are organized. What will happen if some teams unionize and some don't? Will they refuse to play each other? I doubt it but who knows at this point. Some conferences have both schools in Right-To-Work states and in Non-RTW states. For example, WVU is in a heavily unionized state. The rest of Big XII is not. Michigan, Iowa, Nebraska and Indiana are RTW states while the rest of the Big10 states are not. PAC12, ACC and SEC each have both types of states. The NFL is spread over union and RTW states but all the players are union members, correct?
Paying players won't eliminate cheating; the stars will still be approached by people wanting to create separation from the other schools. Right now a scholarship and the schools rep/coaching/whatever is the lure. If you add money to that (assuming everyone gets paid the same) then it's still back to rep/coaching/whatever. Whatever becomes more money over and above the stipend.
College football players in a union? What a bunch of spoiled brats . . . . Fire any kid that thinks his free ride (tuition, books, housing, food, clothes and often a monthly stipend) isn't enough of an advantage over the rest of the student body who have to either depend upon their parents, work, or get loans to get that same educational opportunity. Unions applied to college athletics? It's an incredibly horrible idea. No wonder only 6.7% of private-sector workers are members of a union: Union Membership Sucks
Great. So we have the following things to look forward to: Players going on strike. Acts of violence against anyone crossing their picket line. Stealing of union dues. Intimation of workers when voting on joining a union. Crooked and fixed union elections. Players filing grievance suits for being benched. Union arbitration to recover a starting position. Donation of union dues to the Democrat party. Blowhard Democrat politicians babbling nonsense about how wonderful the union is. Unsustainable pensions, which ultimately will be subject to a taxpayer bail out. Loss of market share to non-union groups, as the consumer votes with their wallet. The following sectors are all highly unionized: steel, auto manufacturing, textiles, construction, ship building, government workers. They all share one common trait – bankruptcy. Unions are truly a poisonous cancer, a parasite on the body, that must be cut out and the surrounding tissue radiated for the victim to survive.
In the article, they acknowledge that they are not employees and don't fall under any collective bargaining agreement. I think in about 20 years college football will look completely different. I see it maturing into more of the money makers of college football organizing their own league and will not fall under the NCAA. They will be more like a semi-professional league that has a college sponsor. If that happens, I hope they adopt a rule that states that the player has to play a minimum of three years before moving on to the professional ranks. I have other ideas but don't want to derail this thread too much. I like the idea of these unionized players but I don't think it will be the same as a union in the traditional sense.
And we need those in the band and ordinary students enrolled on scholarships, to also form unions. So you get a scholarship for a hundred thousand dollars worth of education (more if you go to Stanford) and you feel you're not getting all your are entitled to? I have an idea. Just drop college sports and let the players go play with themselves.
All universities agree to stop offering athletic scholarships. Let the students who qualify voluntarily play sports and offer nothing in return. Sure they'd never do this, too much at stake with the big money, but it would be a way to get around all this nonsense. Kids would be free to come and go as they want. They'd be treated the same as any other student and transfer rules, etc would apply under student guidelines. See how many of these big school kids want to try to qualify on their own merits without help. What a joke.
What a terrible idea. Go ahead turn DKR, the Big House and the Shoe into petting zoos b/c it will ruin college athletics. Unions are corrupt and destroy productivity.
The main issue for the Northwestern players is having access to medical care for injuries sustained as college athletes. While some (many) injuries are correctable and don't have a long term impact, some do. Once players graduate, they're on the hook for covering all expenses related to football injuries. The other issue is having access to a 5th year for grad school. Players who redshirt get access to that 5th year, while those who play as Freshmen do not.
Funny, if they unionize then they are probably eliminating football as a sport at Northwestern since the school would not be able to finance it. It's the same thing with paying athletes; with Title IX, I'm sure the courts would say that that money would have to still be evenly distributed. From a USA Today article last year: Just 23 of 228 athletics departments at NCAA Division I public schools generated enough money on their own to cover their expenses in 2012. Of that group, 16 also received some type of subsidy — and 10 of those 16 athletics departments received more subsidy money in 2012 than they did in 2011
I'm not a lawyer but this is pretty complicated if you step back and look at the entire relationship between the school and the players along with the choices that are made. First, look at this exerpted responsed from the NCAA: "This 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. We stand for all student-athletes, not just those the unions want to professionalize." It say's participation is voluntary. That's true. But so is my choice to show up at my job every morning. So, in theory, the NCAA is saying that if you make a voluntary choice to do something then you are not an employee. But then you say, "Well bystander, you're being paid." True, but so are the players. What is a scholarship? It is a form of compensation that in turn is used for a specific purpose; to pay the tuition bill each semester. What's the difference between that and the job I held ushering and working stage crew for the University when I was in colllege? Now maybe it's a bit different because the scholarship can't be used to by an I-phone like mine can be used but it's still compensation for services rendered used for a specific purpose which again is to pay for the tuition to get an education. Now, I get the other side of this though; football is dangerous. We ALL know that and have ALWAYS known that. Certain players dominated in high school and mainly it was the biggest (along with the fastest) guys. And let me tell you, those guys didn't care one bit about hurting the smaller guys and running them off the field and ultimately off the team. Now they go to college and are crying about injuries. I don't buy it in the least. If you want to play football and in turn have your education paid for then that's the deal. There are no surprises as to the physicality of the sport. The only thing I would say is that the coaching staffs of every college should be required to be smart about injuries and treat each player honestly and not withhold ANY information they have about injuries including head trauma. If a college cannot ensure in good faith that this information and care is available then maybe they should drop the sport. There is no room for cover-ups or ignorance. That is the least they can do given the revenues.
Doesn't the new Affordable Care Act resolve most of the issue? Pre-existing conditions are covered so college sports injuries will be taken care of after graduation either by parents' insurance or one's own insurance. Make sure you never earn much and the premiums and out-of-pocket costs may be subsidized. Easy peasy. Or adjust the law to put ALL college athletes into Medicaid. This way any subsequent medical costs are covered by taxpayers instead of only by sports fans who would feel the pinch when colleges passed their new expenses on in the form of higher fees, ticket prices, memorabilia prices and tuition costs. Bring on the next problem.
You forgot to mention one salient point; can you hang out and not go to practice or loaf and still have your scholarship pay for that education? There is an implied (or maybe it's in writing; I haven't read an scholarship agreement for football) quid pro quo there is there not?
If the NCAA say's the word "voluntary" is the controlling legal authority then they have a weak argument. EVERYONE who works for a living chooses to take a paycheck in return for performance for an enterprise that is a business. A football player chooses to accept the scholarship in return for performance for an enterprise that is a business. Choosing to go to school and pay for your own scholarship through other means than participating in a business that pays for your tuition is a red herring and not on point.
You're missing the point, anyone can earn a degree without playing sports. Who can earn a salary at their place of employment without working?
The point is the pay in the form of a scholarship. That changes the game from an ordinary student. The university clearly offers the scholarship because they expect some value in return (and they hope it is much more than normal effort during practice). A student paying for that education out of their own pocket is a different animal. And in case you think I am a union advocate here is my statement: Start your own business (the idea), then secure financing (debt/equity) and learn about cash flow/working capital, marketing, advertising, sales, inventory, operations, payroll, regulatory, legal, HR, cash flow, IT, accounting etc., then get back to me about unions…..
Going to school is voluntary. The athletic scholarships are an inducement for one thing: to produce a product that will earn MILLIONS of dollars for the universtiy. They can pretend all they want with their "student-athlete" marketing sham but we know what is happening.
