A Couple of NCAA Nuggets That may Affect the Future of College Sports

[Steven A]

No. 1:  The second suit vs a university for unfair labor practices.

 

Notre Dame Athletes Cast as Employees in New NLRB Complaint

SPORTS.YAHOO.COM

---

The University of Notre Dame Thursday was charged with violating section 8 of the National Labor Relations Act by allegedly misclassifying its athletes as “student-athletes” when they are...

 

No 2:  Corporations now aligning with colleges for NIL pledges.

 

FedEx pledges $25 million over 5 years in NIL program for University of Memphis athletes

APNEWS.COM

---

FedEx has pledged $25 million over the next five years to be used in sponsorship deals with University of Memphis athletes.

 

It will be interesting if any shareholder suits will follow, especially from alum of rival schools.

 

Or, will the rivals flock to use UPS from now on?

 

 

 

 

[Jon Joseph]

The NLRB will not stop until college athletes are deemed to be employees.

 

I found it stunning that at the NLRB District level, the NLRB determined that Dartmouth basketball players who do not have athletic scholarships are employees of  Dartmouth College. If this decision is sustained on appeal every D3 athlete could be found to be an employee. At what point would a college in the Ivy League or D3 say to heck with it, we offer no varsity sports? Students who want to play a sport can form clubs but there will be no financial assistance whatsoever from the college. 

 

Pay the Money Ball football and men's basketball players or revenue share with these players and the Title IX suits will be hot and heavy. The fact that non-revenue sports are just that will not matter in today's world. 

 

The NCAA is under attack by federal, and state legislative and regulatory bodies, and is the defendant in four antitrust suits that the NCAA tried to dismiss and in all cases was denied. The Fed X deal is just the start of public companies and Private Equity becoming involved with college sports. 

 

I do not think that we will have to wait for any P4 media deal to expire before we experience more change in college athletics. The B1G's media deal expires at the end of the 2029-30 athletic calendar; the first Power 4 deal to reach the end of the current contract(s.) 

 

In the meantime, I'm going to sit back and enjoy what we have today. No reason to be frustrated over things that I cannot control which is 99.99% of "things."

[Steven A]

On 4/19/2024 at 1:46 PM, Jon Joseph said:

No reason to be frustrated over things that I cannot control which is 99.99% of "things."

I'm married so I'm at 100%

[Charles Fischer]

On 4/19/2024 at 3:06 PM, Steven A said:

I'm married so I'm at 100%

[Mike West]

The sooner they reinstate player movement restrictions the better.  Everything else will settle down once we know what the landscape looks like. 

[Jon Joseph]

Mike West, Spot On comment. But how can the reins be pulled in with Congress not interested in helping out and the NCAA  is neutered by state and federal court court court decisions? 

 

A player's union negotiating with "management" and agreeing to a restraint on transfers will likely be upheld if union members can be figured out and 'management' is identified. I do not see this happening without players being deemed to be employees. 

 

NFL roster management is a piece of cake compared to CFB because of negotiations between management, the owners, and the pros who make up the union.

[Jon Joseph]

A private equity firm has signed an NIL agreement with FSU.

 

https://athlonsports.com/college/florida-state-seminoles/nole-gameday/football/florida-state-and-the-brandr-group-launch-group-licensing-for-student-athletes-

[Solar]

On 4/20/2024 at 1:32 PM, Jon Joseph said:

Mike West, Spot On comment. But how can the reins be pulled in with Congress not interested in helping out and the NCAA  is neutered by state and federal court court court decisions? 

 

A player's union negotiating with "management" and agreeing to a restraint on transfers will likely be upheld if union members can be figured out and 'management' is identified. I do not see this happening without players being deemed to be employees. 

 

NFL roster management is a piece of cake compared to CFB because of negotiations between management, the owners, and the pros who make up the union.

The NCAA is the organization in place to manage athletes as employees. Even if their entire existence has been dedicated to preventing athletes from being treated as employees, they need to hit the reset button and do their new job, which is to establish a framework of athletes as employees.

 

If they really care about the students, they will set up a union as well. But they won't because they get paid by the colleges who will be on the other side of the bargaining table if a union is created.

[Jon Joseph]

On 4/22/2024 at 2:42 PM, Solar said:

The NCAA is the organization in place to manage athletes as employees. Even if their entire existence has been dedicated to preventing athletes from being treated as employees, they need to hit the reset button and do their new job, which is to establish a framework of athletes as employees.

 

If they really care about the students, they will set up a union as well. But they won't because they get paid by the colleges who will be on the other side of the bargaining table if a union is created.

The NCAA is a non-profit organization with a membership of 1,118 schools. 363 D1, 313 D2, and 442 D3.  None of the D3 programs provide athletic scholarships and do not send athletes, except on very rare occasions, into professional sports. The NCAA as constituted is not capable of managing a pay-for-play system and I do not believe its charter and federal tax status would allow the NCAA to form a union. 

 

The B1G and the SEC, the Power 2, are the most likely conferences to control the money ball sports, litigation, etc. Follow the money. To bargain 'management' must be defined. Oregon will be part of management; Linfield College will not.

 

Other than for eligibility standards and the approval of post-season events the NCAA has been neutered when it comes to regulating the money ball and other sports. 

[Solar]

On 4/22/2024 at 12:15 PM, Jon Joseph said:

The NCAA is a non-profit organization with a membership of 1,118 schools. 363 D1, 313 D2, and 442 D3.  None of the D3 programs provide athletic scholarships and do not send athletes, except on very rare occasions, into professional sports. The NCAA as constituted is not capable of managing a pay-for-play system and I do not believe its charter and federal tax status would allow the NCAA to form a union. 

 

The B1G and the SEC, the Power 2, are the most likely conferences to control the money ball sports, litigation, etc. Follow the money. To bargain 'management' must be defined. Oregon will be part of management; Linfield College will not.

 

Other than for eligibility standards and the approval of post-season events the NCAA has been neutered when it comes to regulating the money ball and other sports. 

So, are you thinking the Conferences become the management independent of each other, or do you think the conferences form a new umbrella management structure over the pay to play power conferences?

 

Do you think they will only bite off Football or will they bite off all revenue sports?

Edited April 23 by Solar

[Jon Joseph]

On 4/23/2024 at 3:15 PM, Solar said:

So, are you thinking the Conferences become the management independent of each other, or do you think the conferences form a new umbrella management structure over the pay to play power conferences?

 

Do you think they will only bite off Football or will they bite off all revenue sports?

I think we will see NFL-Lite. An NFC = SEC and ESPN, and the AFC, = the B1G, and Fox. Power 2 member universities will be the employer and 'management' for negotiating purposes with the players' union that will be associated with the NFL union. There will be restrictions on total salaries, but not NIL, restrictions on transfers, and quite possibly a high school draft with a wage scale of some form. Without having to recruit and without having the roster headaches we see in CFB today, CFB coaches' salaries will deflate.  

 

With this structure, the Power 2 conferences will have a chance for Congress to provide the same antitrust protection and protection against other differing state legislation and state and federal regulators. Federal legislation will also provide the approach the Power 2 will have to take regarding Title XI.

 

Will Men's basketball be NBA lite? The NCAA puts on one heck of a CBB tournament every season that is a money maker. But what union will CBB players/employees have available to them if not the NBA union? Dartmouth men's basketball players voted to join the Service Employees Union (SEU). The majority of SEU members do not play college basketball. 

 

Whether the athletes will have to be student-athletes I haven't a clue. However, I am certain that Oregon will not be left behind no matter how these issues are decided. 

[Solar]

On 4/23/2024 at 12:52 PM, Jon Joseph said:

I think we will see NFL-Lite. An NFC = SEC and ESPN, and the AFC, = the B1G, and Fox. Power 2 member universities will be the employer and 'management' for negotiating purposes with the players' union that will be associated with the NFL union. There will be restrictions on total salaries, but not NIL, restrictions on transfers, and quite possibly a high school draft with a wage scale of some form. Without having to recruit and without having the roster headaches we see in CFB today, CFB coaches' salaries will deflate.  

 

With this structure, the Power 2 conferences will have a chance for Congress to provide the same antitrust protection and protection against other differing state legislation and state and federal regulators. Federal legislation will also provide the approach the Power 2 will have to take regarding Title XI.

 

Will Men's basketball be NBA lite? The NCAA puts on one heck of a CBB tournament every season that is a money maker. But what union will CBB players/employees have available to them if not the NBA union? Dartmouth men's basketball players voted to join the Service Employees Union (SEU). The majority of SEU members do not play college basketball. 

 

Whether the athletes will have to be student-athletes I haven't a clue. However, I am certain that Oregon will not be left behind no matter how these issues are decided. 

I'm just not sure the individual universities' administration have the time babysit any of this. If I had to make a guess, the conferences will be delegated most of the responsibilities.