Potentially huge ruling (could affect MVC)

[CBB_Fan]

http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootbal ... se-at-nlrb

Essentially, athletes at Northwestern attempted to unionize. The National Labor Relations Board decided in favor of the athletes, declaring that athletes should be treated as employees instead of student-athletes and should have the right to unionize.

This ruling only affects private universities, because public school athletes would have to appeal to their state's labor board instead of the national one. This probably isn't going to affect schools like Duke and Stanford, which can afford to pay their athletes. But Drake, Bradley, Evansville? This could make it impossible for smaller private schools to afford college athletic programs.

The relevant goals of the union are as follows:

2. Raise the scholarship amount.
3. Prevent players from being stuck paying sports-related medical expenses.
6. Prohibit universities from using a permanent injury suffered during athletics as a reason to reduce/eliminate a scholarship.
8. Eliminate restrictions on legitimate employment and players ability to directly benefit from commercial opportunities.
10. Guarantee that college athletes are granted an athletic release from their university if they wish to transfer schools.
11. Allow college athletes of all sports the ability to transfer schools one time without punishment.

And of course, as employees they could eventually lobby for a stipend or wage in addition to scholarships, thought that is not currently one of their declared goals. Still, this could be disastrous for half the MVC. If the state labor boards uniformly side with the national labor board it could be end of the mid-major conferences as we know them.

[TheAsianSensation]

The current college athletic model is under assault now from several angles, not even just this one. It's going to change, it's just a matter of when and who will get cut off.

At least there's time, because this thing will get appealed all the way to the Supreme Court.

[Drakey]

The biggest thing on that list is players being able to make money from endorsements while in college. That will be another plus for the BCS schools and another roadblock for everybody else. Undoubtedly your chances of making money will be much greater at Duke, Michigan and Texas than at Bradley, South Dakota and Montana. One of the schools it would probably hurt the most is Northwestern which already has enough disadvantages in trying to compete with 50,000 student State Schools.

[Mikovio]

First off, I doubt this ruling (which is only a regional NLRB director's ruling at the moment) is going to stand. It's going to be appealed to the national NLRB, and then the 7th circuit or DC circuit, and maybe all the way to SCOTUS. Everybody is probably freaking out over nothing.

Second, even if it's upheld it may not actually result in unionization. Unionization is decided on a shop by shop basis and many non revenue athletes may vote against it because they'll see little benefit and could even see their sports get axed to pay for football and basketball.

Third, it will be a boon to some wealthy private schools and a blow to others. Northwestern and Vanderbilt and Duke can afford to pay their players, give them health and disability insurance, etc. and will have a big recruiting advantage if the NCAA doesn't kick them out. (You can then expect the state boards in Alabama and Texas to find their schools have the right to unionize as well, because if there's anything they hate more than unions it's losing recruits to Vandy.) Bradley, Loyola and Drake may be able to afford to pay a salary and provide medical benefits which would turn the Valley standings upside down overnight. Other private schools in worse financial circumstances may not. Even those that may be able to could decide it's not worthwhile. What's interesting is the full cost of scholarships at these schools is close to the $36k threshold that bumps you into the 25% tax bracket, and if their salaries are suddenly taxed, they would need a substantial "raise" just to break even (>$50k).

This type of ruling is just going to make the rich richer, but again it's too early to panic.

[rlh04d]

I don't think this will be the deciding factor, at least not yet.

However, college sports are changing. This will happen, and it's only a matter of time. Sticking heads in the sand and hoping schools can weather the storm won't do it. The NCAA has pissed away the public's support.

[Cdizzle]

I don't think this will be the deciding factor, at least not yet.

However, college sports are changing. This will happen, and it's only a matter of time. Sticking heads in the sand and hoping schools can weather the storm won't do it. The NCAA has pissed away the public's support.

In the end, to make all this work, there will have to be an organization in place that is even larger, and even more greedy than the NCAA to hold everything together. And they won't have a shield to hide behind of promoting and enabling amateur sport. It will get very messy, very quickly, and implode on itself.

[musiccitybulldog]

Not trying to be overly naïve but one pure sporting aspect of basketball I have always liked is; small high -schools and colleges could always field a team and compete, as with small groups or conferences.

-- Maybe the way this issue should work out is the opposite direction there they need to beef up and regulate the student athlete part of college basketball. Make a longer season with maybe more time between games, have to have at least a measurable >2.5 to play and keep the scholarship. You get insurance coverage, play for care and ongoing injury, and play as long as you are realistically in school. Have a rule you can't move into the NBA until you graduate or 4 years from initially starting.
Have a yearly tournament everyone gets to benefit from at the end of the year. Could be even more exciting than now.

[rlh04d]

Not trying to be overly naïve but one pure sporting aspect of basketball I have always liked is; small high -schools and colleges could always field a team and compete, as with small groups or conferences.

-- Maybe the way this issue should work out is the opposite direction there they need to beef up and regulate the student athlete part of college basketball. Make a longer season with maybe more time between games, have to have at least a measurable >2.5 to play and keep the scholarship. You get insurance coverage, play for care and ongoing injury, and play as long as you are realistically in school. Have a rule you can't move into the NBA until you graduate or 4 years from initially starting.
Have a yearly tournament everyone gets to benefit from at the end of the year. Could be even more exciting than now.

I've wanted something similar to this for a while. The problem isn't with not paying players ... The amateur side of athletics is right. It's the fact that everything else has been professionalized that is the problem. You can't make the athletes be amateurs while operating a billion dollar business on their likenesses and work, and then make ridiculous rulings over autographs, punish kids for wanting to transfer, and refusing to take care of the participants.

The NCAA could save itself by actually dedicating itself to student athletes and ensuring their safety and the quality of their education. They have never made that a priority, though.

The NCAA has no ability to regulate when someone can go pro, though.