I have been meaning to write about this topic for some time now, and since NCAA president Mark Emmert addressed it at a news conference earlier today, I want to get my feelings out about the Northwestern University football players and their attempt to unionize. About two weeks ago, news broke that a group of current and former Northwestern football players, headlined by outgoing senior, and starting quarterback, Kain Colter had brought a case in front of the National Labor Relations Board, and the NLRB had ruled in favor of the players attempting to begin the process of college athletes becoming able to unionize. The potential ramifications of this verdict, as well as appeals and rulings that will unquestionably follow, could change collegiate athletics as we know them.
First off, let's start with the purpose of labor unions. Employee unions exist with the intention of allowing employees of any particular organization to protect themselves from unfair practices. Whether it be poor working conditions, subpar wages, or any other number of reasons, unions are essential to the workplace in the United States. Sports are no different. Since professional sports are workplaces, all of our major professional athletes are members of player's unions. We might not think about it much, but professional sports as we know them exist because of these unions.
Often times, the only time we think about player's unions is when the possibility of a lockout or a strike arises, and to the common sports fan, labor disputes between unions and owners are seen as petty and irrational. We see athletes getting paid a lot of money to play professionally, and think that labor unrest should be something that is easily avoidable, but that is surely not the case.
Work stoppages have occurred in all four of our major sports. The first took place in 1972, when Major League Baseball players went on strike in an effort to increase pension amounts. The strike began on April 1st and lasted until April 13th, and it ended with the players gaining a $500,000 pension increase. Had a player's union not existed, it would have been impossible for the players to get that result. There have been various work stoppages throughout the four major American sports. Many of them have not caused significant changes to the games that we see, but that has not always been the case.
In August of 1994, MLB players went on strike, with the main concern of avoiding a salary cap. The end of the 1994 season was not played, and it was the first time in 90 years that a World Series was not played. In 2004, the NHL became the first American professional sport to lose an entire season due to a labor dispute, and the main issue at hand was, just like MLB in 1994, a salary cap. The NBA and NFL have also gone through work stoppages, but neither of those leagues has ever missed more than a portion of its season, and neither of them have had to cancel its championship due to labor disputes. So, unions have certainly been essential to professional sports as we know them, and whether we like it or not, we have seen the power that player's unions can exert if they deem it necessary.
So, now it is time to spin all of this history forward and look at the case of Northwestern football. Debates have gone on for years and years about whether or not college athletes should be compensated (usually, that means financially compensated) for their services. Those in favor of the athletes say that the students are bringing in enormous profits to their universities, and the fact that they never see any of that money go into their own pockets is unjust. On the other hand, opponents of that theory will point out that the athletes are attending their schools due to a scholarship, and therefore they are being compensated with a free education that is due to their outstanding ability in whatever sport they might play.
I tend to agree with the latter point of view. A college education, no matter the school, is very expensive. If a student-athlete is admitted to a university and does not have the responsibility to pay the thousands of dollars most students would pay, they are already seeing a significant reward for their abilities before they even play their first game. However, I also see how one could argue for the players. The cost of admittance to a school is surely large, but depending upon the school that a student attends, as well as the sport that he or she plays, it could really be insignificant compared to the revenue that that student generates for the university.
An 18-year old who plays football for a Division III school, no matter his talent level, is not bringing in a profit that is anywhere close to a Division I school whose stadium holds upward of 100,000 people. That is just a fact. Many small, lower division football programs would be happy to generate $2 million in revenue over the course of an entire season. According to Forbes Magazine, Ohio State University generates about $3 million per game. Obviously, the difference is enormous. So then, since Division I schools are bringing in huge profits, should the players expect to receive more than just a scholarship? According to this Northwestern proposal, they should.
At first, it would clearly seem that this unionization attempt by the Northwestern football players was solely a money grab. However, at least at first glance, that does not appear to be the case. While I'm sure that financial compensation is a concern, the group initially based its case on the protection of players during their time at the university, as well as into the future. One of the main points of the movement was based around player safety and medical care. While a student athlete might be granted a free education due to his superior athletic ability, the group brought about the point that if that athlete were to incur any serious injury during his time at the university, it would be completely optional for the school to pay for medical expenses after the student graduated. Many sports; football being the most likely, can cause serious injuries that bring about life-changing injuries that players must deal with for years and years following their college graduation. As the law stands now, schools have absolutely no obligation to pay for medical disbursements while the player is at school, let alone after the player graduates. The medical coverage of retired NFL players was one of the main issues at the forefront of the negotiations between the NFL and NFLPA on the table at the expiration of the last Collective Bargaining Agreement, and this is basically an extension of that same concern.
Most collegiate athletes will not be able to become professional athletes, and the Northwestern appeal focused on them. We pay attention to the athletes who become superstars, but we do not remember the majority of the athletes who never become professionals. They have to find work in other fields, and if they might apply for a job with some sort of injury incurred when they were in college, they simply have to deal with it. They might have been bringing in a whole lot of money for the NCAA, but once they graduate, the NCAA has no obligation to continue to look out for their best interest.
The future of players; after their playing careers are over, is what the Northwestern football players were most ardent about.
What I have provided here is only a background of the significance of a player's union in collegiate athletics. The consequences of a ruling in favor of the Northwestern football team are seemingly unceasing, and it will take an entirely new topic for me to get into those. Until then, I think we have to look at the actions of the Northwestern football program as potentially groundbreaking, as well as something that could change the face of collegiate athletics as we know it within the next few years.
Daily Nets Update: Brooklyn seems to be locked into the fifth spot in the Eastern Conference, and that means a likely matchup with either the Bulls or Raptors in the first round of the playoffs. I have said this before, but I still realistically think that the best this team can hope for is at least a berth into the second round of the playoffs.
Daily Rangers Update: Just like the Nets, it seems like the Rangers are destined to finish either fourth or fifth in the Eastern Conference, and right now that would mean a matchup of them and the Tampa Bay Lightning in the first round of the playoffs. As Ryan Callahan is now a member of the Lightning, I would honestly like to avoid cheering against him in the postseason, thanks to his time as a Ranger, it seems like that is becoming more and more of a possibility. However, the name on the front of the jersey is always more important than the name on the back, and in the NHL playoffs, anything is possible. Let's Go Rangers!
Daily Diamondbacks Update: The season has surely not gotten off to a very good start, as the team stands at 2-7. With 153 games left to play, obviously, there is still a whole lot of game to play. However, the pitching has gotten off to a terrible start. The offense has been pretty good, but without improvement from both the starting rotation and the bullpen, the Diamondbacks will be hard pressed to compete in 2014.
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