The Dartmouth athletes’ union attempt stands out from previous failed attempts

When the Dartmouth College men’s basketball team filed a petition to unify this week, it was once again clear how much the player empowerment movement in college sports has grown.

The petition, filed with the National Labor Relations Board by the Service Employees International Union, was signed unanimously by all 15 of the team’s players, the union said. It was immediately backed by advocates for greater rights for college athletes, and Dartmouth itself said it was considering how to respond.

In a statement, the Ivy League school said it “has the utmost respect for our students and for unions more broadly” and that it “is carefully considering this petition with the goal of responding promptly but thoughtfully in accordance with Dartmouth’s educational mission and priorities.”

The petition was filed on Wednesday. According to the NLRB, players on the Dartmouth team did not respond to messages seeking comment, and it was unclear in records obtained through an open records request how the athletes were making arguments for forming a union.

The SEIU said in a statement that it is “proud to stand in solidarity with these young people as they fight for the right to collectively bargain for a better future and blaze a trail for other student-athletes to follow.”

The Dartmouth team’s efforts join a long line of recent actions that have called into question the NCAA’s student-athlete model, which has come under increased scrutiny in recent years. States have allowed athletes to be paid for endorsement deals, and the Supreme Court has said that sports leaders cannot withhold modest payments and benefits tied to education.

In February, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit heard oral arguments in a case in which a former Villanova football player alleged that college athletes are employees. The NCAA is also facing one $1.3 billion class action lawsuit from current and former players regarding the use of their name, image and likeness in television broadcasts. And the Ivy League itself is facing lawsuits after current and former Brown University basketball players filed a lawsuit against the conference in March to challenge his practice of not awarding sports scholarships.

“We’re just in a completely different position with college sports,” said Jason Stahl, the founder and executive director of the College Football Players Association, which promotes efforts by college football players to form unions.

It wasn’t long ago that such efforts were met with fierce, sustained opposition and a desire to preserve the NCAA’s cherished model of amateurism over player agility. And while it’s unclear whether the Dartmouth players can be successful in their efforts to unionize, they do have some structural advantages that previous groups didn’t.

In 2014, players on the Northwestern football team began a similar effort, arguing that the compensation they earned from their scholarships gave them the right to collectively bargain with the university. That petition was ultimately rejected, but the players who signed union cards saw themselves as the vanguard of a movement.

“Right now the NCAA is like a dictatorship,” quarterback Kain Colter said at the time. “No one represents us in the negotiations. The only way things are going to change is if players have a union.”

The NLRB then argued that recognizing a Northwestern unit would create an unequal labor relationship with other schools in the Big Ten Conference, which were public and not under the board’s jurisdiction. This meant that the board could not force these schools to unionize as well.

Michael LeRoy, a professor and expert on sports labor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, said Dartmouth’s case differs from Northwestern’s in ways that could lead to broader efforts by Ivy League teams.

Because the Ivy League schools are all private, LeRoy said the NLRB’s justification for rejecting the merger with Northwestern would not apply since Dartmouth does not consult with public schools.

Still, the effort is sure to face hurdles. Players would have to prove they are employees, LeRoy said, which is the subject of ongoing litigation.

It’s also not clear whether Dartmouth’s effort could or would spread. LeRoy said that even if Dartmouth had a union, collective bargaining could not be imposed on other Ivy League basketball programs. But Stahl said Dartmouth’s effort showed basketball had an advantage with relatively small roster sizes compared to other sports, such as football.

The tide has turned not only on union organizing, which has found favor with the American public since 2015, but also on feelings toward the NCAA and its member institutions, which have fought hard against the empowerment of players. The institution lost some influence in Washington with the Supreme Court’s 2021 ruling in NCAA v. Alston and states forcing the NCAA to change its rules for endorsement deals.

Stahl said the environment for Dartmouth players gives them an advantage that Northwestern’s players didn’t have in 2015.

“I think the argument is really in our hands now,” Stahl said.