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In September of 2023, a local chapter of the Service Employees International Union filed a case on behalf of Dartmouth Men’s Basketball concerning their amateur status. Dartmouth men’s basketball filed in hopes of being given status as employees of Dartmouth, which in turn would allow them to unionize and collectively bargain their working arrangements.
Yesterday, Laura A. Sacks, a regional director for the National Labor Relations Board, ruled in favor of the athletes' case. In her ruling, she wrote, “because Dartmouth has the right to control the work performed by” the players and “because the players perform that work in exchange for compensation,” they are considered employees protected under the National Labor Relations Act.
Dartmouth, a member of the Ivy League, does not provide monetary compensation to their athletes for their athletic prowess, i.e. athletic scholarships. Sacks ruled that non-traditional forms of compensation, apparel, travel, preferred acceptance into the university, and priority class selection, among other advantages are enough to be considered forms of compensation under the National Labor Relations Act. Sack used numerous examples throughout her ruling, including comparing the advantages of being a student-athlete to a general population student at the university.
This case puts the long-standing NCAA policy of college athletes being considered as amateurs in even further jeopardy. With the recent influx of NIL policies and direct compensation to student-athletes through NIL channels, the amateur status of college athletes may be a thing of the past.
While Dartmouth does not generate high revenue yields from its athletics programs like many other colleges in the country, it did not deter Sacks from ruling in favor of the athletes. A Dartmouth spokesperson confirmed that the school will appeal the ruling.
An extremely similar case was national news in 2014 when a union election was ordered for the Northwestern football team after they won their case with the National Labor Relations Board. Upon appeal from Northwestern, the NLRB ruled that it would not assert jurisdiction over the case. While the players awaited the appeal ruling, a unionization vote was held within the program, but the results were never publicly revealed. The next step for Dartmouth is to hold the same vote.
Since the 2014 Northwestern case, the context has significantly shifted, public opinion leans in favor of college athletes receiving compensation, and players across the country are now entering into NIL deals for a wide range of financial compensation. This landmark case will now head to the NLRB review board, and if the ruling is not in favor of the university, it could move to a federal appeals court, and even potentially the Supreme Court.
So what does this all mean? Unlike professional sports leagues like the NBA and NFL, college athletes do not have a voice. There is no players union, there is no collective bargaining agreement, nor a true representative for the athletes. This case would allow the players to work with their universities and have a true voice in their conditions. It would foster unity and create a platform for collaborative decision-making. While the NCAA already sets a lot of parameters and laws to ensure the safety and proper conditions for student-athletes, athletes may now have a say in those conditions.
In the age of NIL and compensating athletes, this case was almost inevitable. It comes at a time when the NCAA faces a federal lawsuit in Pennsylvania on a similar case relating to the amateur status of athletes. College sports leaders have been steadfast for centuries in insisting their athletes are students, and they have even gone as far as lobbying Congress for a federal law to codify that classification. The NCAA is on the ropes on this one, and I think they did it to themselves when they opened the door to NIL without a thorough plan.
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