Northwestern U Players win suit - can unionize

[EastStang]

We were only 30 years ahead of the curve. Oh well. Seriously, this will cripple private schools like Northwestern, TCU, SMU, Stanford, Duke, Wake Forest, the U, Vandy, Tulane and USC. And, what about the 1-AA schools who have little or no TV revenues? A good middle ground would be to allow players the right to make endorsements (that might actually help us in a large media market like Dallas), get revenue from jerseys sales, and to get insurance, but not to actually pay them directly. That way a great college player who will never make it in the pros, like some of those Spurrier Heisman winners, can get some scratch while he's got his 15 minutes of fame.

[SMU Smitty]

So if the ruling says players are receiving compensation and are therefore employees, wouldn't they then be required to pay taxes for that compensation to the IRS, state and local taxing authorities?

[lwjr]

So if the ruling says players are receiving compensation and are therefore employees, wouldn't they then be required to pay taxes for that compensation to the IRS, state and local taxing authorities?

Depending on how much income they make in a year. This ruling opens up so many cans of worms, we have not even scratched the surface.

[smudubs]

We were only 30 years ahead of the curve. Oh well. Seriously, this will cripple private schools like Northwestern, TCU, SMU, Stanford, Duke, Wake Forest, the U, Vandy, Tulane and USC. And, what about the 1-AA schools who have little or no TV revenues? A good middle ground would be to allow players the right to make endorsements (that might actually help us in a large media market like Dallas), get revenue from jerseys sales, and to get insurance, but not to actually pay them directly. That way a great college player who will never make it in the pros, like some of those Spurrier Heisman winners, can get some scratch while he's got his 15 minutes of fame.

Again, I'm firing from the hip hear without reading the opinion. It seems many of you are thinking this proposed union will follow the lead of the NFLPA. I personally believe it will be more inline with UAW. Meaning if, and this is a big if, they negotiate "salaries" for players, everyone in the union, depending on classification rather than talent, will receive the same "salary." Equal pay for equal work. It will squeeze everyone.

The more interesting idea is how will grievances be handled? Here is an example. When I played at SMU I was late to practice because I had a biology lab I had to complete. Because I was late, the coaches made me run--a lot. I didn't think this was fair but I did it without complaint. Now if I were in a union I would have had the right to grieve this punishment. Can you imagine Nick Saban having to take time off the recruiting trail to respond to this grievance? Or better yet having to participate in a three day arbitration concerning player welfare? Oh yeah, and arbitration proceedings are not cheap. Who pays for the arbitrator and how will the players' union be funded?

I just don't see how this will be good for anyone and ill significantly change college athletics. But then again, I hate unions and went into labor and employment law for this reason.

[alamocitystang]

I doubt we can afford to continue football if we have to pay players. Northwestern likely just cancelled there program. State schools will just get taxes raised. The allure of college football is that players are not paid. Funny that Northwestern players didn't feel like their degree was compensation enough. I love it when they get interviewed and they say,"we're not talking about making money, just getting compensation for other things." Like what? The student athlete is quickly dying. RIP with my interest in minor league football aka what used to be college football.

[lwjr]

Rule Number One:
When someone says it is not about the money, it is about the money.
Rule Number Two:
See Rule Number One