The Era of Unionization in the NCAA Passes at Dartmouth

"May you live in interesting times." - Chinese proverb

Yesterday, with a 13-2 majority, the Dartmouth University Men's basketball team voted overwhelmingly to unionize. The Service Employees International Union Local 560 (SEIU) can now represent these athletes for collective bargaining In the long running and often vitriolic battle against the NCAA around the idea of college athletes obtaining "employee status."

While this looks to continue down a very costly and entangled legal path around the appeals process, it represents another significant blow to the NCAA's attempts to control the narrative around #NIL (Names, Image, and Likeness) and "amateurism" in college athletics. (Recently, the NCAA lost their battle against the University of Tennessee and collectives -booster clubs dedicated to raising funds to support athletes / athletic programs- around inducement and recruiting issues.)

The idea of compensating athletes as employees is more than a noble one; it's a necessary one. Given the overall demands placed upon college athletes- number of hours required to participate, travel, dress codes, etc.- if it looks like a duck, and walks like a duck...

And they deserve many of the benefits which employees receive. Especially around areas such as health and wellness. Greater access to mental health resources should be prioritized, as well as a fund to care for athletes who have had season or career ending injuries.

However, there is a flip side to this celebration.

In many states, employees operate in an "at will" status. Meaning that they can be terminated for almost any reason by their employer. So, if the transfer portal opens and a highly coveted point guard from another program transfer in, the current point guard may find his employment no longer required. And he will be forced to find another "job" at another program- or worse- focus on his academics and graduate from the university.

Additionally, the Ivy League institutions have the wherewithal to pay their players as employees, given their endowments are in many cases greater than the Gross Domestic Product of numerous countries. But that is the exception, not the rule when it comes to college athletics.

The cost of paying the college athletes like employees will put a very heavy burden on the athletic budgets at most schools. The result of which will be cutting non-revenue generating sports or demoting them to "club level." In more extreme instances, schools may even consider dropping from Division 1 to Division 2 or 3.

Many argue that playing a sport in college is a "privilege" and not a right. What cannot be argued is the monetary value these athletes produce for the university in terms of media rights, prestige, increases in applications, and donations.

When NIL was passed, it was viewed as the first meaningful step to ensure these athletes were given an opportunity to be compensated for their efforts and all the blood, sweat, and tears they have left on their respective playing fields. But they must all be very careful of what they wish for, as the pendulum has swung very far in one direction. Before it can find a happy medium, it may very well swing back with some unforeseen repercussions.

Until then, we can let the basketball players at Dartmouth celebrate by cutting down the nets, as it's clear that March Madness has truly begun.