The NCAA filed an amicus brief on behalf of Northwestern to reverse a decision from a regional National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) that ruled the school’s football players are university employees. The filing followed briefs submitted by Northwestern and six Republican members of Congress in support of the university.
The debate is still ongoing since the NLRB allowed the university to appeal the regional board’s decision. If the NLRB affirms, the case could go before federal court. Meanwhile, the voting results of Northwestern football players on unionization continues to be sealed pending the NLRB’s ruling.
The NCAA’s brief claimed that if the NLRB affirms, “significant and irreversible, negative impact on the future of intercollegiate athletics and higher education in the United States.” Specifically, it argued that the unionization would:
- “Marginalize the importance of educational programs”
- “Isolate rather than integrate student-athletes as a fundamental part of the student body”
- “Undercut the demarcation between intercollegiate athletics and professional sports”
- “Undermine the revered tradition of amateurism that colleges and universities have worked tirelessly to preserve for the benefit of students in America”
- “Fundamentally alter the developmental and educational opportunities provided by college athletics”
- “Usurp the responsibilities entrusted to our academic leaders to determine what priority and role athletics should play in the educational development of the college students placed in their care”
As many of these concerns are some of the cornerstones of the NCAA’s defense in the O’Bannon trial, the NLRB’s analysis of the NCAA’s brief may affect the league’s position in the trial. Not surprisingly, the NCAA’s brief ended with a familiar statement:
“[student-athletes] are students – exclusively – first, last and foremost.”
Supporting for the athletes group are several sports economists and professors of sport management. The group’s brief said,
“While scholarship players in the revenue sports – like all college athletes – do need additional protections, those changes need to be made by the NCAA and its member institutions, who could and should structure remedies in a way to avoid imposing costs on other students. And if the NCAA and the schools fail to act, Congress or state legislatures would have a similar ability to tailor reforms to fit the needs of the entire population.”
Both sides expect a national NLRB ruling late this summer.
NCAA files brief against Northwestern football union effort
NCAA and others file briefs in Northwestern football union effort