Today the National Labor Relations Board, a federal agency, has ruled that college football players qualify as employees of the university (in this case, Northwestern University) and can unionize as employees:
http://www.latimes.com/sports/sportsnow/la-sp-sn-northwestern-union-20140326,0,7450618.story#axzz2x6XnrJ4G
Personally, I applaud this ruling as a first step in ending the hypocrisy that the NCAA considers these athletes "student athletes" in order to maintain tax-free status in a highly-profitable industry. The only ones profiting from this hypocritical system (college basketball included) are coaches, universities, advertisers, television and other media. Meanwhile, the college athlete risks serious injury for these institutions with little compensation (i.e. scholarships). On top of that, these token scholarships turn out to be anything but educational. They are simply being used for their talents for their own gain with little to no regard for the eduction and well-being of these athletes. For example, there is evidence that "student-athletes" are attending and graduating from these univervisities with little more than a 4th-grade education (and in at least one case, illiterate):
http://www.cnn.com/2014/01/07/us/ncaa-athletes-reading-scores/
However, I'm keenly aware that we just opened up Pandora's Box and really don't know what will come of this. Will college football players be paid? Will they now have a voice regarding college football rules, safety, TV contracts, academic qualifications, etc.? What will this mean to college athletics as a whole and in the future?
I'm curious and hopeful to see what, if anything, will come of this.