Dartmouth, NCAA React to Basketball Team’s Union Vote

Dartmouth men's basketball team voted to unionize on Tuesday, moving the needle toward more change in college sports.

The Dartmouth men’s basketball team voted 13-2 to unionize on Tuesday, another seismic step toward the potential for student-athletes to become school employees.

That’s something both the NCAA and Dartmouth University came out against in the wake of the news.

This would be the first labor union in college sports. The Dartmouth team would be represented by the Service Employees International Union. With the vote and the approval from the National Labor Relations Board, the university is required to negotiate in good faith with the basketball team in collective bargaining.

Dartmouth has five days to file an objection.

Dartmouth’s full statement after the vote seemed to indicate the university will likely file an objection.

"For decades, Dartmouth has been proud to build productive relationships with the five unions that are currently part of our campus community," the university said in a statement posted on X. "We always negotiate in good faith and have a deep respect for our 1,500 union colleagues, including the members of SEIU Local 560.

"In this isolated circumstance, however, the students on the men's basketball team are not in any way employed by Dartmouth. For Ivy League students who are varsity athletes, academics are of primary importance, and athletic pursuit is part of the educational experience. Classifying these students as employees simply because they play basketball is as unprecedented as it as inaccurate. We, therefore, do not believe unionization is appropriate."

The NCAA has proposed new legislation that would give student-athletes more opportunities to benefit from Name, Image and Likeness, including a requirement that would compel universities to pay at least half of them $30,000 per year.

But the NCAA isn’t in favor of unionization.

“The NCAA is making changes to deliver more benefits to student-athletes including guaranteed health care and guaranteed scholarships, but the NCAA and student-athletes from all three divisions agree college athletes should not be forced into an employment model,” the NCAA’s statement read. “The Association believes change in college sports is long overdue and is pursuing significant reforms. However, there are some issues the NCAA cannot address alone and the Association looks forward to working with Congress to make needed chances in the best interest of all student-athletes.”