[lex24]

My daughter plays both high school and club volleyball.  She doesn't set the schedule and has to follow orders.  Does that make her an employee?

FWIW, the same thing is true about my sons 6th grade basketball team and pretty much any sports team I can think of.  So 6 year old soccer players are employees?

The NLRB statement was that "Players at academic institutions perform services for institutions in return for compensation and subject to their control." The NLRB also focused more narrowly on revenue-generating sports, characterizing these as being akin to private businesses, thus making student-athletes akin to employees producing profit for the enterprise in exchange for compensation.

Ultimately this will be resolved in the courts, but certainly FBS football is not analogous to children's sports teams. College football players are being compensated and such compensation is contingent on working a substantial number of hours under supervision, and the operation as a whole is generating substantial revenue and being operated as a revenue-maximizing business.

I get the focus on the revenue-generating sports, but if one wants to analogize to private business, does the analogy hold? Consider the case of a car company, where the luxury car division is raking in the money but the sub-compact division is a money loser and exists only to "show the flag." Would anyone argue that the workers at the subcompact division are not employees? If one views the entire business operation to be the athletic department, shouldn't SAs in non-revenue sports also be considered employees?

Indeed, that may be the eventual outcome. I was responding to the comparison between a six year old soccer team and an FBS program where players receive scholarships and stipends but are required to put in substantial work hours. The revenue aspect just makes it clearer but it's certainly possible that non-revenue sports will get swept in somehow.

Non revenue sports absolutely would be treated the same. Title IX assures that.  You can’t pay men playing revenue generating sports and not pay women playing non revenue generating sports.  

And I repeat, this would not only apply to sports.

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My daughter plays both high school and club volleyball.  She doesn't set the schedule and has to follow orders.  Does that make her an employee?

FWIW, the same thing is true about my sons 6th grade basketball team and pretty much any sports team I can think of.  So 6 year old soccer players are employees?

The NLRB statement was that "Players at academic institutions perform services for institutions in return for compensation and subject to their control." The NLRB also focused more narrowly on revenue-generating sports, characterizing these as being akin to private businesses, thus making student-athletes akin to employees producing profit for the enterprise in exchange for compensation.

Ultimately this will be resolved in the courts, but certainly FBS football is not analogous to children's sports teams. College football players are being compensated and such compensation is contingent on working a substantial number of hours under supervision, and the operation as a whole is generating substantial revenue and being operated as a revenue-maximizing business.

My guess is Congress steps in.

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Everybody has to make up their own mind. I stopped buying tickets and holy moly the world hasn’t ended. If you don’t like what’s happening don’t contribute anymore either by adding to the gigantic university endowment or at the ticket counter. Don’t watch ESPN and don’t patronize their advertisers.

Or you could go on bitching about a system gone amok.

In the eyes of many, all athletes are “exploited”. (We will hear that term plenty as the MLB lockout moves forward). Even professional players making 10’s or 100’s of millions.  If I was to buy that notion I’d stop watching all college and pro sports. But as it’s nonsense, I’m not so inclined…..

[lex24]

My daughter plays both high school and club volleyball.  She doesn't set the schedule and has to follow orders.  Does that make her an employee?

FWIW, the same thing is true about my sons 6th grade basketball team and pretty much any sports team I can think of.  So 6 year old soccer players are employees?

The NLRB statement was that "Players at academic institutions perform services for institutions in return for compensation and subject to their control." The NLRB also focused more narrowly on revenue-generating sports, characterizing these as being akin to private businesses, thus making student-athletes akin to employees producing profit for the enterprise in exchange for compensation.

Ultimately this will be resolved in the courts, but certainly FBS football is not analogous to children's sports teams. College football players are being compensated and such compensation is contingent on working a substantial number of hours under supervision, and the operation as a whole is generating substantial revenue and being operated as a revenue-maximizing business.

I get the focus on the revenue-generating sports, but if one wants to analogize to private business, does the analogy hold? Consider the case of a car company, where the luxury car division is raking in the money but the sub-compact division is a money loser and exists only to "show the flag." Would anyone argue that the workers at the subcompact division are not employees? If one views the entire business operation to be the athletic department, shouldn't SAs in non-revenue sports also be considered employees?

Indeed, that may be the eventual outcome. I was responding to the comparison between a six year old soccer team and an FBS program where players receive scholarships and stipends but are required to put in substantial work hours. The revenue aspect just makes it clearer but it's certainly possible that non-revenue sports will get swept in somehow.

Non revenue sports absolutely would be treated the same. Title IX assures that.  You can’t pay men playing revenue generating sports and not pay women playing non revenue generating sports.  

And I repeat, this would not only apply to sports.

---

My daughter plays both high school and club volleyball.  She doesn't set the schedule and has to follow orders.  Does that make her an employee?

FWIW, the same thing is true about my sons 6th grade basketball team and pretty much any sports team I can think of.  So 6 year old soccer players are employees?

The NLRB statement was that "Players at academic institutions perform services for institutions in return for compensation and subject to their control." The NLRB also focused more narrowly on revenue-generating sports, characterizing these as being akin to private businesses, thus making student-athletes akin to employees producing profit for the enterprise in exchange for compensation.

Ultimately this will be resolved in the courts, but certainly FBS football is not analogous to children's sports teams. College football players are being compensated and such compensation is contingent on working a substantial number of hours under supervision, and the operation as a whole is generating substantial revenue and being operated as a revenue-maximizing business.

My guess is Congress steps in.

---

Everybody has to make up their own mind. I stopped buying tickets and holy moly the world hasn’t ended. If you don’t like what’s happening don’t contribute anymore either by adding to the gigantic university endowment or at the ticket counter. Don’t watch ESPN and don’t patronize their advertisers.

Or you could go on bitching about a system gone amok.

In the eyes of many, all athletes are “exploited”. (We will hear that term plenty as the MLB lockout moves forward). Even professional players making 10’s or 100’s of millions.  If I was to buy that notion I’d stop watching all college and pro sports. But as it’s nonsense, I’m not so inclined…..