This document discusses the debate around unionizing college athletes. It notes that the first team to propose unionization was Northwestern University football players. The National Labor Relations Board then ruled college athletes are employees of their university because most of their time is spent training for their sport, not being students. Supporters argue athletes deserve pay given the billions schools make from TV deals and their labor. However, others believe unionization could negatively impact non-revenue sports with smaller fan bases that generate less money. The document concludes by suggesting a compromise where athletes have their education fully paid for, and can earn additional money based on team performance and success.

1. Luke Halstead
Harrold Blanco
First Year Seminar Critical Thinking
12pm - 1pm class
9/17/2014
College Athletes Unionizing
The big debate today revolving around college athletics today is whether or not to unionize the “student
athletes”. Unionizing the student athletes would mean that they would get paid to perform in
extracurricular activities such as basketball, baseball, football, swimming, tennis, golf, and other sports.
This subject has been bobbled around the college sports world for years, but it has never been able to
stick, until recently.
The first team to propose the unionizing of student athletes was Northwestern University, a private
college. If a regular university wanted to unionize and be able to collectively bargain for their specialized
treatment it would have to go through state law instead of the National Labor Relations Board or (NLRB).
The NLRB said “because of the demands of their sport, the players were employees of the university”.
They proposed that the term “student” athlete wasn’t valid anymore due to the majority of time they spend
training and practicing for their sport.
A learning specialist from the University of North Carolina did research and reported that “sixty percent of
their football players and their basketball players could only read at a level that was equivalent between
fourth and eighth grade, and that up to another ten percent read below a third grade level.” (NC). I can
make an accurate statement by saying that those players probably weren’t recruited for their academic
excellence if they can’t out read a ten year old, so most were recruited by their university strictly due to
their excellence in the ability to play the sport they specialize in. Some of the people that are at the
colleges to play sports have the sport aspect as their number one priority and the schooling second. The
regional NLRB director concluded that “the time Northwestern players spend on football — 40 to 50 hours
a week during the season, even more during training camp — and other special demands placed on them
mean they are not primarily students who play sports, but laborers working for the university.” (Director). If
they are labeled as workers of the university then they deserved to be paid like the high grossing
employees should. “Some analysts say these athletes deserve to be paid, especially because of how
much money — from the billions of dollars in TV contracts alone — is being made off their labor” (NCAA).
But Ramogi Huma, a former college football player and president of the College Athletes Players
Association (CAPA), the group seeking to unionize players, says “The NLRB ruling exposes the “myth” of
amateurism for big-time college athletics. He says that they are already paid. They're paid to play. The
schools require them to provide a service for receiving their scholarships. So the question is what is fair
compensation and treatment for their services” (Huma). This view is in regard to the number of college
athletes that have reported that the money they get through scholarship doesn’t always cover all of their
cost for attendance. They have reported having problems with not having enough money for supplies for
different things like home needs or different miscellaneous schooling needs like binders and white
boards. “CAPA is not asking that college players be paid a professional salary, but that they receive the
full cost of going to school — current athletic scholarships don't cover all expenses — along with better
health care and more support for their academic work.” (Huma).
Now for the other side of the story. Multiple scholars and researchers believe that if
My personal observation through all the cloudy opinions and businessmen trying to turn a profit is that
players don’t need to unionize. If they were to unionize there would be more attention paid to the football
and men’s basketball teams than there would to any other sport. Those two sports are the highest paid
sports in the industry, and therefore those people who play for those teams would be getting the highest
amount of money due to the broadcasting of the events alone. They also lead the pack in memorabilia.
People don’t realize how this would affect other sports that don’t have a giant fan base but are still
important to those who play. For example, the college rowing team would have little to no revenue due to
the lack of televising, fan base, or team products being sold. Big time schools get big time money, so the
smaller schools that aren’t in division 1 athletics won’t get as much money and will have to liquidate their
least profitable sports to pay for the students on the “more important” teams. There has to be a happy
medium between giving the players all the money and not having enough to make it through school, and I

2. have an idea.
I think that aspects from both can be used to make a perfect scenario where the teams get the money
they have earned and the people that are in sports as an extracurricular activity like working out are all
happy. I believe that the students that made the school criteria to have a sports scholarship should have
the schooling part of their college careers paid for. Then whatever they do as far as winning and making a
good images for themselves and their teams that the boosters should be paid a certain percentage so
that they could keep up with the image they have made for themselves. That way the NCAA doesn’t
seem like
In conclusion, making sure information is clear, correct, and truthful is most important aspect of a paper
when you are trying to find out the truth behind any subject. Mult imedia and press aren’t always truthful in
what they say, due to the fact that they can be paid to say otherwise. People that want their side to win a
case or argument will post falsified papers and say that they are proof read by doctors and people that
have had years in an area that are related to the topic and it be completely made up by that person. In the
real world people lie to try to persuade the public one way or another to benefit a certain group,
organization, or side. Always make sure when you are doing research on a subject that you get non bias
information from an educated and reliable source.
Works Cited page:
Karaim, Reed. "Paying College Athletes." CQ Researcher 11 July 2014: 577-600. Web. 15 Sept. 2014.
"Let student-athletes unionize, share profits?." USA Today n.d.: Academic Search Premier. Web. 16 Sept.
2014.
Simon, LouAnna, and Nathan Hatch. "Why Unionizing College Sports Is a Bad Call." Wall Street Journal
(Online) 08 Apr. 2014: 1. Business Source Premier. Web. 17 Sept. 2014.
THORNBURG, ANDREW, and DAVE KORNECKI. "College Athletes, Education and Following the
Money." Wall Street Journal - Eastern Edition 12 Apr. 2014: A12. Business Source Premier. Web. 17
Sept. 2014.