Northwestern U Players win suit - can unionize

[ponyinNC]

http://www.startribune.com/lifestyle/252499331.html

[smustatesman]

Maybe NU will lock out their football team, and bring in scab players.

[Terry Webster]

I wonder how long it will be until the B1G will boot them out of the conference.

[CalallenStang]

I wonder how long it will be until the B1G will boot them out of the conference.

Northwestern is the only private school in the B1G. If they boot them out, they would need to replace them with another private school or else all of their conference meetings and records including emails would be open to the public. And if all private schools are subjected to this ruling (possible), they won't have a replacement that doesn't have Northwestern's unionization issue.

[mrydel]

Yep. It is all part of the plan for SMU to the Big 10. We can keep secrets.

[smudubs]

I have not read everything on this but will be reading the opinion and will chime in more afterwards. The fact that the ALJ ruled they can unionize will change college athletics, but the fact that he apparently held players are employees is what I believe will really revolutionize college athletics.

[ojaipony]

LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it. I'm of the opinion that players should be paid. Not to anywhere near pro levels, but they need compensation beyond a scholarship IMHO.

And, to those that say well it's complicated ("how much do you pay who and what about non-revenue sports, etc etc?"). All I have to say to that is corporate america has been figuring that out for centuries. Very complicated compensation modeling done by millions of people over hundreds of years. I think it can be worked out.

[CA Mustang]

Potentially the case could apply to SMU as this effort focuses on private schools. Players at public school have to go through the labor dept. in their state.

[CalallenStang]

It will affect SMU. If the ruling holds on appeal, our athletes will be employees and will need to be treated as such. We will get to set the salary we want to pay. Someone find Sherwood Blount and conjure the spirit of Gov. Clements, because we will have "a payroll to meet"

[Mustangs_Maroons]

LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it. I'm of the opinion that players should be paid. Not to anywhere near pro levels, but they need compensation beyond a scholarship IMHO.

That's what minor leagues are for. I do believe the NCAA is about as a corrupt organization there is anywhere, and the vast amout of money raised should be used and redistributed to all D-1 universities, not just some power conferences, to promote educational efforts.

[birddogger]

Posted this on the FB:

I'm not shocked, but I am mildly surprised. The Court seemed to have applied the traditional multi-factor test to determine if a person (in this case a college athlete) is an "employee." Objectively speaking, scholarship athletes do seem to meet the definition. They are "paid" in the sense that they receive schollys, and they do report to managers. And I can't be convinced that they are independent contractors, so... if they don't fall into that category, they must be employees, right????

The issues are whether (1) this is the appropriate test, and (2) an exception should be carved out for them.

I think a shadow factor here is the massive $$$ that the NCAA schools receive as a result of their "labor". This will probably require a legislative fix.

[birddogger]

Another quirk is state legislation. Some states allow employees to opt out of unions. Another tangle.

[smudubs]

I do not believe this ruling will lead to paying players per se. Federal minimum wage is set at $7.50 per hour. Division 1 college athletes, unless the rule has changed, can only participate in their respective sport for twenty hours per week. That annualized would be $7,540 per year. The value of scholarships at even state universities would exceed this amount.

The issue as I see it is that some universities provide benefits to employees who work twenty hours per week. As an example, Betterhalf is an adjunct professor at UNT and receives health and retirement benefits. Would athletes also be eligible for these benefits? Do universities raise the minimum number of hours required to be eligible for these benefits to avoid this issue, thus screwing staff?

There are a ton of potential issues associated with this ruling. I can't list them all right now because I have not read the opinion.

[ponyinNC]

I do not believe this ruling will lead to paying players per se. Federal minimum wage is set at $7.50 per hour. Division 1 college athletes, unless the rule has changed, can only participate in their respective sport for twenty hours per week. That annualized would be $7,540 per year. The value of scholarships at even state universities would exceed this amount.

The issue as I see it is that some universities provide benefits to employees who work twenty hours per week. As an example, Betterhalf is an adjunct professor at UNT and receives health and retirement benefits. Would athletes also be eligible for these benefits? Do universities raise the minimum number of hours required to be eligible for these benefits to avoid this issue, thus screwing staff?

There are a ton of potential issues associated with this ruling. I can't list them all right now because I have not read the opinion.

trust dubs - he is a smart dude.

[SMU Section F]

Yep. It is all part of the plan for SMU to the Big 10. We can keep secrets.

I'm not sure the school that got nailed by the NCAA for committing infractions most other schools were also committing gets a merit badge for "Secret Keeping". Just saying.