

NLRB Dismisses Northwestern University Football Players’ Petition to Unionize - lutesfuentes
https://casetext.com/links/mrjg9qy8ytltarma9tz0r95t

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stephengillie
This isn't a final decision. And it seems partly related to the unique
situation where the NLRB doesn't have full jurisdiction over all parties.

If I'm reading it right, the NLRB doesn't want to introduce an unfair scenario
where players at some universities have some rights and players at other
universities don't have these rights. But of course that could just be
redirection.

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mikeash
I find this concept of petitioning to be allowed to unionize to be weird. What
stops them from just doing it? Form an organization, select some leadership,
and go.

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maxerickson
They essentially did that (hence the petition). This is a federal regulator
deciding not to recognize them.

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santaclaus
> This is a federal regulator deciding not to recognize them.

The downside to this being fewer legal protections in the case of, say, a
strike?

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huac
or arbitration rights

(for example the NFLPA can bring Tom Brady's 'DeflateGate' appeal to a federal
judge for an appeal under federal labor relations laws)

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detroitcoder
I feel that profitable Division 1 athletic teams should pay their athletes the
same as top tier internship contracts (GOOG, MSFT, FB, etc). Why is one
student allowed to profit from talent and hard work while another is
explicitly forbidden to do so?

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animefan
Spin them off as separate companies and you're onto something good ;-)

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jessaustin
In the future when universities no longer exist, college football will be
cited as a big reason why.

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douche
The NFL really needs to start a proper feeder league, like MLB, the NHL or the
NBA has started to do with the D League. Most teams already have a sort of
"shadow roster," between their practice squad guys and the unemployed veterans
and rookie free agents that are on speed-dial for when injuries or suspensions
strike.

The NFL is, despite the bone-headed direction by the league office, a money-
printing machine, and that's with a season lasting less than half the calendar
year. There's a big chunk of the sports year that is a complete waste-land,
between the end of the NBA/NHL finals and the start of NFL preseason, and the
American public is desperate for football. Just look at how the completely
manufactured Deflate-gate "scandal" has pumped up football, for all its
ridiculousness. The wear-and-tear on the athletes would be a problem for a
late-spring/summer league schedule - particularly for any standouts that
continued on to play in the NFL in the fall. But there's more than enough
talent that's just at the edges of NFL-levels to provide an entertaining
product.

Of course, the bigger issue is that NFL players have probably the rawest deal
in pro sports. Mediocre veteran baseball players can command double-digit
million, fully guaranteed contracts, while the average veteran NBA player
makes something north of 4-5 million, also fully guaranteed. Meanwhile, even
star NFL players have the bulk of their contracts non-guaranteed, and can be
cut with little liability if their production dips due to bad luck or injury,
in possibly the most violent and injury-prone major sport, which leaves many
ex-players walking vegetables.

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jessaustin
_...the bigger issue is that NFL players have probably the rawest deal in pro
sports._

...with the possible exception of 4-year D1 college players who don't play
"pro" ball. They've still had a decade of wear-and-tear on still-developing
joints and brains, and the conferences, channels, and advertisers (not so much
the colleges) have made bank off their labor, while they've seen not a cent.

