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.
So they get the equivalent of “10’s of thousands of dollars” (appraised by the school), and the schools get to rake in millions on ticket sales + concessions, broadcasting deals and merchandise with the kid’s name on it, and if the kid complains or does anything to make money independently, which is every American’s right, they lose that scholarship and get kicked out of the sport?
Still sounds like exploitation to me.