Bill introduced to Congress to allow college athletes to unionize
Earlier this month, Georgia governor Brian Kemp signed a bill allowing athletes to profit off of their name, image and likeness. Multiple states have signed similar bills into law, including those like Florida, Alabama and South Carolina among 13 others.
This week, Sens. Chris Murphy and Bernie Sanders introduced a bill to congress called the College Athlete Right to Organize Act, which would allow some college athletes to unionize and classify as employees.
Here’s a summary of the legislation:
“College athletes are already treated like employees: They provide a valuable service in exchange for compensation in the form of scholarships and grants-in-aid that they lose if they do not perform the job as specified by their colleges,” This past year made this distinction even clearer, as college athletes continued to work and perform while their peers often were not on campus.”
This would give athletes the right to organize and collectively bargain.
After the bill was introduced, the NCAA released a statement condemning the bill, saying the new legislation, “Would directly undercut the purpose of college.”
NCAA statement on Murphy-Sanders bill: https://t.co/SsuIHLWEej pic.twitter.com/r8tTFPJwJb
— Inside the NCAA (@InsidetheNCAA) May 27, 2021
This issue is a bit sticky because federally, there is no legislation yet on name, image and likeness. The Athletic’s Nicole Auerbach reported the NCAA Council may discuss the topic in its June meeting to figure out broad rules.
If legislation like the College Athlete Right to Organize Act is passed, certain college sports like football would drastically change. College football would become more of a minor league sports system containing professionals, not student-athletes as we are accustomed to.
