A National Labor Relations Board regional official ruled on Monday that Dartmouth basketball players are employees of the school, clearing the way for an election that would create the first-ever labor union for NCAA athletes.
All 15 members of the Dartmouth men’s basketball team signed a petition in September asking to join Local 560 of the Service Employees International Union, which already represents some other employees at the Ivy League school in Hanover, New Hampshire.
Unionizing would allow the players to negotiate not only over salary but working conditions, including practice hours and travel.
It has always bothered me that academic institutions let people in for free or for much less tuition and are more lenient on their academics if they are good at sports. Having a physical advantage over other students shouldn’t translate into making it easier to get into a school and pay for it.
Like you said, let them play on minor league teams and if they want to use that money toward tuition, they can.
Unfortunately, there is way too much money invested in college sports in the U.S. for that to happen.
It’s because we can not imagine letting people in for free if they don’t “earn” it. Sports scholarships let people pretend that they earned their place in the school because they worked hard to get there, ignoring the fact that sports are not academic in any way.
Taking away sports scholarships without making college free would just result in these athletes never getting degrees.
That’s because there is no future in sports and telling these kids you made it to college sports and you will go pro someday is a lie. It’s only hurting the ones who never make it they get a poor education and disappointment.
Just because there’s no future in sports doesn’t mean their scholarship doesn’t get them an employable degree.
And a poor education with a degree is still a very good deal.
If your school spends more money on athletes than on education it is not a school but a sports club.
A sports club with degrees that employers recognize, and that’s all that matters. Actual education is irrelevant.