College Football Union

          For the last couple of months college football players have been going to court to try to unionize. Last Wednesday the National Labor Relations Board regional director  found that Northwestern football players who receive scholarships are university employees and may unionize. There's two sides to this argument. The players argue that they are employees of the college. They argue that the school makes millions of dollars off their performances and they should get the money they earned. They say are required to spend more time on the field than in classes which helps their case that they are employees of the college more than they are students. People that oppose the players argument to unionize say that players exchange their hours of practices and games for scholarships that go towards there college tuitions. The National Labor Relations Board director ruled that Northwestern’s scholarship football players should be eligible to form a union based on a number of factors, including the time they devote to football (as many as 50 hours some weeks), the control exerted by coaches and their scholarships, and a contract for compensation. The television contract for the new college football playoff system is worth $7.3 billion over 10 years, and the current deal to broadcast the men’s basketball tournament is worth $10.8 billion over 14 years. 

          I personally don't think college athletes should be allowed to unionize becuase the college gives them many privileges that you wouldn't get unless you were an athlete. College athlets have the opportunity to go to some of the most prestigious schools in the country for free just becuase they are athletes. Also most professional league teams scout players at colleges which gives the athletes greater opportunities to play professionally. Professional teams pick their players on how well they did in college. Going to college is a privilege, you have to write a letter asking if you can go to the college your applying to. Colleges can reject or accept you depending on their decision, they should be able to kick you out of school if they chose to. I do believe that the money colleges get from television channels are an enormous amount but I do not believe the players should get any of the profit. 

Links

http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/10680161/players-union-victory-small-battle-collegiate-landscape

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/27/sports/ncaafootball/national-labor-relations-board-rules-northwestern-players-are-employees-and-can-unionize.html?_r=0

http://www.indystar.com/story/sports/college/2014/02/12/hearing-on-bid-to-form-college-players-union/5417739/