RULING: Northwestern Scholarship Athletes can Unionize

[armadillo slim]

Mark Emmert's days at the NCAA are numbered. There is no way he has the skills necessary to guide college athletics through the changes that are about to break loose. The next big thing will be the Univ of Maryland exit fee ruling.

if Emmert can't figure out that the BBCOR bats suck for baseball there's no way he'll navigate this. time to pop the ol' golden parachute and jump.

 

[armadillo slim]

this is just the beginning and is just as momentous a decision in its own way as the curt flood ruling many years ago.

 

[JMagana]

No sympathy for the NCAA they knew this day was coming and they lived in denial. Should have given the kids a little spending money and this would have never happened.

 

[doc longhorn]

It will certainly reduce the number of borderline schools that participate in revenue sports. The rich schools will continue to field their football teams, but will reduce their full scholarship counts. Schools like Sam Houston or SF Austin will fold their football programs. They will be unable to afford them.

The bottom line will be the national number of offered schollies will take a tremendous hit as school after school will drop or reduce their football programs.

History simply does not teach us anything, in spite of cities like Detroit and Pittsburgh staring us in the face. Greed. Everyone wants a piece of the pie until there is no pie left.

 

[BBQ time]

The simple solution is to take Mark Cuban up on his idea to start a Billion $ playoff.

$200,000,000 in profit from a billion dollar playoff breaks down to $37,000 per player for 64 teams with 85 players. Money won't be an issue if the Div 1 is split into 64 teams and then everyone else.

I don't see a problem with continuing football and basketball. The other sports will be tough to figure out.

 

[SFlonghorngirl]

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/college-football/news/20140327/ncaa-athletes-union-ruling-northwestern/

Now, the schools -- which, let's face it, are the NCAA -- must choose. Do they make a deal with the athletes? Or do they risk any or all of the following?
• An ultimately unfavorable ruling in the O'Bannon case that would essentially make it illegal to televise a college football game without explicitly compensating the participants.

• An ultimately unfavorable NLRB ruling that would recognize players as employees. That would require schools to sink money into worker's compensation, but it also could have a much bigger impact. If football players are employees, then the schools are employers. From a legal standpoint, they would be very much in the football business. The football business is not part of a school's educational mission, and someone in Congress might look at all those cable-network dollars and decide it's time schools started paying taxes on that revenue.

• An ultimately unfavorable ruling in the case Kessler is bringing, which essentially would declare the entire business model for major college sports illegal.

 

[Chris Flanagan]

Apparently, this NLRB ruling only affects athletes at private universities. Will unionization of their athletes give them a competitive advantage? More financial support; ie "full cost of attendance", medical benefits, etc.?
I mean, SMU has treated their guys like pros for years. This may give Baylor and TCU a leg up!

It could. Especially since Texas is a right to work state and the football players would be classified as public sector employees meaning no formation of a public union.

That would mean SMU, TCU, and Baylor could sell those better benefits to athletes. That would mean Texas, if it wants to compete, would have to offer similar benefits on their own. Creating a true market for the athletes services.

The NCAA and their member institutions don't want to compete. They want to run like a cartel.

 

[doc longhorn]

It could. Especially since Texas is a right to work state and the football players would be classified as public sector employees meaning no formation of a public union.
That would mean SMU, TCU, and Baylor could sell those better benefits to athletes. That would mean Texas, if it wants to compete, would have to offer similar benefits on their own. Creating a true market for the athletes services.

The NCAA and their member institutions don't want to compete. They want to run like a cartel.

Texas would not have to compete. They would just have to wait until Baylor, TCU and SMU go bankrupt.

 

[texasdobbs]

What is this over reaction friday... this thing is not over. This ruling will be appealed and it will be overturned. Eventually the big 4 will break from the NCAA and a stipend system will be set up. When I say stipend I mean a $500 -$1000 month STIPEND. The athletes will not be getting no $37000 a year.

 

[SFlonghorngirl]

http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball/writer/dennis-dodd/24509028/document-details-effort-for-autonomy-among-five-power-conferences

CBSSports.com has obtained a document detailing NCAA rules the power conferences would seek to change or amend in upcoming governance discussions.

-- A lifetime opportunity fund that would allow former players to complete their education after leaving school. It would benefit players who depart early for the draft or who don't graduate after their eligibility expires.

-- Provide full cost of attendance to players. This long-discussed topic seems to a certainty in the future. Players would be given a prescribed amount extra in living expenses based on the cost of living in the particular college town.

-- Redefine rules governing agents. That's a preference of SEC commissioner Mike Slive. While Slive hasn't been specific about what those changes would be, assume that new rules would allow more contact with agents while players are in school.

-- Meet the healthy, safety and nutritional needs of players.

-- Addressing scholarships that are reduced, cancelled or not renewed at the whim of a coach. Coaches have been criticized for promising a full-ride in recruiting then have the power to cancel scholarships on a year-to-year basis.

Provide paid transportation for parents for official recruiting visits to championship events. (College Football Playoff, NCAA Tournament, bowls etc.)

-- Rescinding rules that inhibit a player's desire to pursue a non-athletic career. A Minnesota wrestler was declared ineligible last year because he posted music videos of himself online. NCAA rules prohibit a player from using his name or image for commercial use.

-- Permit schools or players to get loans regarding “career-related” insurance.

-- Policies regarding athletes' time demands. Northwestern players were allowed to unionize, in part, because a National Labor Relations Board official concluded that players do devote at least 40 hours per week to their sport.