What They Are Saying: Key Takeaways from the Subcommittee Hearing "Safeguarding Student-Athletes from NLRB Misclassification"
March 12, 2024
On the ramifications of the employment model
Congressman Bob Good (R-VA)
“Student-athletes don’t want to deal with union dues or employment contracts.”
“Employee status will hurt student-athletes too, as they will have less freedom, lower educational standards, and revoked or even taxed scholarships.”
Congressman Burgess Owens (R-UT)
“Classifying student-athletes as employees is an existential threat to the future of college sports. It increases costs, unionization, and administrative headaches.”
“Why is it that after 118 years, we all of a sudden have the NLRB so concerned about protections, health, safety, and respect for college athletes? That was because of NIL. There’s a lot of money on the table.”
Jill Bodensteiner, Vice President and Director of Athletics, Saint Joseph’s University
“As a threshold matter, I believe that the NLRB’s regional director’s decision in Dartmouth was so broad that NCAA Division 2 and 3 student-athletes, college students who participate in non-athletic clubs, and actually high school students can be deemed employees.”
“College athletics as it currently exists is not structured with the expectation that student-athletes will be employees. The transition to a student athlete workforce could reduce the number of NCAA sports sponsored by institutions.”
“The cost of having a student athlete workforce, the infrastructure of human resources, the bargaining personnel to manage potentially 21 bargaining units and 480 employees, would be extensive.”
Tyler Sims, Shareholder, Littler Mendelson
“Any wages or other compensation paid to student-athletes would be taxed. But what about our scholarships that are currently tax free? The tax code exempts athletic scholarships but does not exempt scholarships when paid in exchange for services like teaching, for example. Will student-athletes also have to pay taxes on scholarships?”
“In a typical workplace or in professional sports, employees must perform well or they risk losing their jobs, which is what happened to me a number of times playing professional hockey. Could my tenure with the school be terminated at any time if I wasn’t playing well? Would I have time to work through it and try to improve?”
“It’s not that unions are good or bad. It’s that the setting here is bad.”
Professor Matthew Mitten, Professor of Law and Executive Director, National Sports Law Institute, Marquette University Law School
“Characterizing college athletes as employees in 2024, one hundred and eighteen years after the NCAA’s founding, threatens to destroy the historically very successful model of intercollegiate sports and raises numerous complex and unprecedented federal labor law issues, as well as potential conflicts with federal laws such as the Fair Labor Standards Act and Title IX.”
“It could result in less favorable treatment of student-athletes, including their payment or getting fired for unsatisfactory sports performance, more restrictive limits on their earning capacity or ability to transfer schools.”
Congressman Rick Allen (R-GA)
“Unionization will restrict student freedom and their ability to choose the right course for them. And frankly, the very purpose they’re there is to lower their educational costs…Only 1 percent go to the next level, so that education becomes very valuable.”
Congressman Glenn Grothman (R-WI)
“The big impact of this on people is that a lot of athletes in what we call non-income producing sports, I hate to use the phrase minor sports, they just lose the opportunity [to thrive in their programs].”
On the uneven playing field under an employment model
Jill Bodensteiner, Vice President and Director of Athletics, Saint Joseph’s University
“The core of college athletics is about competition. It’s extremely difficult to exist in a competitive environment when teams are playing by different rules.”
“Because each law has its own definition of employee and is adjudicated in different ways, we also have the real possibility that student-athletes at some institutions could be deemed employees under the NLRA, not employees under the Fair Labor Standards Act, and may or may not be employees under their state work comps law.”
“I’m not anti-union at all. I’m just worried there will be a handful of unions in a competitive environment that would [for my conference] make it very difficult to compete on a level playing field.”
On the centrality of academics and character formation in collegiate athletics
Congressman Glenn Thompson (R-PA)
“The cornerstone of college athletics has always been the ability of individuals to earn a college degree while participating in their sport of choice. In fact, even as the NCAA sees record participation in collegiate athletic programs, only a small fraction of student-athletes will go professional. College degrees offer students the skills and knowledge to succeed in their careers beyond athletics. Yet the NLRB threatens these opportunities for young men and women around the country.”
Congressman Burgess Owens (R-UT)
“I am a product of this process. I went to the University of Miami, I got a scholarship there, and graduated in biology and chemistry. I could not have afforded to have done that. I did not go there thinking I was going to the NFL. I just went there to get an education. The benefit was all the other serendipities–character, tenacity, grit, understanding ups and downs, multitasking.”
Professor Matthew Mitten, Professor of Law and Executive Director, National Sports Law Institute, Marquette University Law School
“I think it’s 5.15 million student-athletes that have had an opportunity to participate in a sport they love, to get a debt-free or low cost education. Those education benefits extend beyond just playing the sport…Teamwork, cooperation, the discipline, time management skills are absolutely critical.”
Congressman Tim Walberg (R-MI)
“As an athlete, a wrestler, it prepared me for life, but it wasn’t life. It prepared discipline, character qualities…I think unionization is a responsible thing for their adult lives.”
On the need for Congress to act
Congressman Bob Good (R-VA)
“I hope Congress can take action to protect the freedoms of college athletes and preserve their unique status as both student and competitor.”
Congressman Glenn Thompson (R-PA)
“The landscape of college athletics has shifted significantly. We all know the system is at an inflection point with ramifications of NIL…It’s absolutely critical that Congress come together and provide a clear set of rules for states, institutions, supporters, and most importantly, student-athletes. I remain concerned that without key safeguards, oversight, and proper regulatory framework, the current NIL market is unstable and it leaves student-athletes vulnerable.”