NLRB: Dartmouth men's basketball team can vote to unionize

The door is now open for college athletes to be considered school employees; are high school athletes next?

According to a bombshell report by Front Office Sports, the National Labor Relations Board ruled, on Monday, the members of Dartmouth University's mens basketball team are considered university employees and thus are eligible to unionize.

“Because Dartmouth has the right to control the work performed by the Dartmouth men’s basketball team, and the players perform that work in exchange for compensation, I find that the petitioned-for basketball players are employees within the meaning of the [National Labor Relations] Act,” the 26-page decision read, according to FOS.

The decision is the result of a case filed in September of 2023, after all 15 members of the Dartmouth mens basketball team signed a petition asking to join Local 560 of the Service Employees International Union, which also represents other employees at the school. A virtual trial was held last October leading to Monday's ruling. Unionizing would allow the players to negotiate salary and working conditions, including practice hours and travel.

Neither Dartmouth, the Ivy League or the NCAA has yet issued a response to the ruling, but the college will most likely appeal the decision.

During the trial Dartmouth attorneys argued that the players should not be considered employees because they were "unpaid members of a money-losing program whose need-based scholarships don't depend on their participation or talent."

The NCAA's Name Image and Likeness (NIL) rules, which have been adopted on the high school level by many states, brought about by a 2021 Supreme Court ruling that paved the way for college athletes to be paid, have cast the term "student-athlete" into many shades of gray. It seemed less gray in the Ivy League, an athletic conference comprised of eight elite academic institutions in the Northeast United States that do not offer athletic scholarships, but do offer need-based financial aid.

Many believe Monday's ruling is the first giant step in a march towards all college athletes being considered employees of their respective colleges and universities, something that would dramatically alter college athletics as we know them. Ultimately, athletes could negotiate for more than just the right to profit off of their Name, Image and Likeness. They could seek shares of other revenues that pour into college athletics, including broadcast rights and ticket sales, just to name two.

Could this one day trickle down to the high school level? Could high school athletes be considered employees of their schools?

It would be naive to rule out the possibility.