I’m not surprised college sports teams are wanting to unionize, but I was a bit surprised to see Dartmouth lead the way. I do see it as a positive development.
Perhaps their time could be better spent practicing basketball. At 12-1 in the Ivies they are the absolute bottom. Not an ideal collective bargaining position.
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Yes,their bad ranking is part of what makes this interesting: Why them? Why now?
Maybe they figure that with a record like this, nobody will be able to accuse them of trying to capitalize on their success.
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haven’t been following this, but still struggling to understand teh purpose. If their goal is to gain D1 schollies, be careful what you wish for, as if I was an Athletic Director in teh Ivy League, I’d vote to drop to D3. Alternatively, they start cutting other sports to pay football and basketball players some cash.
Harvard offers teh most sports of any Uni, but if they have to start paying students on top of travel et al, why would they continue 40+ varsity sports? (Sure, H has the cash, but at a certain point, they are gonna take a hard look at the athletic budget and figure that there are plenty of academic uses for that money.)
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why do these elite schools even have sports, anyways? reading that article makes it sound like no one watches their games in person; i’m guessing its that way for many of the schools’ sports.
I was talking yesterday to a prof at a small, NAIA college. he said 60% of its students played sports there; that sports/scholarships was a way to get kids into the college to keep it viable; kids who werent ready to give up their sport from high school. But with the elite schools, they dont need to offer sports to get kids to attend. if the sports arent watched, arent revenue producing, arent used as an incentive to get kids to attend – why have them?
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(Article says one of the basketball players was employed in the dining hall when dining hall employees successfully unionized)
School needs to provide food services they don’t need a 1-12 basketball team. School is neither profiting or benefiting from their “labor” as student athletes.
If the students don’t want to play it won’t impact them as there are no athletic scholarships involved.
Organized labor only works if their collective effort produces something of value that can be equitably distributed. Dartmouth men’s basketball is only producing wins for their opponents.
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Likely a slippery slope and sure to be appealed.
Hopefully some of CC’s attorneys will weigh in…what’s different this time vs other teams that have tried this like Northwestern football?
I also wonder how/if this impacts the class action lawsuit against the Ivy League for being D1 and not offering athletic scholarships? Ivy League Faces Federal Class Action Lawsuit over refusal to award athletic scholarships - Voices at Temple
Perhaps this pushes the Ivys to award athletic scholarships? But I don’t understand all the various sides/potential consequences.
The Ivies would be too strong to go to D3, what conference would accept them? Could the whole conference move together? There is a three year defined process to go from D1 to D3, but seems like it would have to be different for the non-scholarship giving Ivies…U Hartford is in the process of going from D1 to D3 (it doesn’t happen much).
Spending this time sourcing NIL deals may have been more fruitful for the D basketball team 
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even if they were 12-1 instead of 1-12.
Yes, I believe it’s already being appealed (today was the team vote, but the court decision was last month, so I believe the appeals process is already underway).
There was an article in The Athletic today that discussed this: Dartmouth men’s basketball players vote to unionize in landmark moment for athlete rights - The Athletic
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I understand and agree with your point, but if they managed to get a sweet sixteen tournament slot it could be debatable as to their adding brand value. My reference was a bit tongue in cheek but clearly they don’t have a lot of leverage.
You certainly haven’t been to a Princeton basketball game (men’s or women’s) as of late. 
Dartmouth already tried this with Swimming (and I think track?) It didn’t go so well.
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“That got him thinking about his basketball teammates and all the time they spend at practice, watching film, lifting weights, and traveling to games on weekends.”
Maybe he should get paid to attend class and do his HW too?
Am I the only one who thinks these kids are spoiled brats? He chose this privilege. No one kept him from taking a scholarship at a D1 or (gasp!) D2 school.
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Right, but Unionization gives them a good excuse: offering scholarships will kill the athletic budget. (Track & Field is problematic, however, as that sport brings in diverse students as Brown found out.)
buh-bye, Lacrosse.
D reinstated all five teams they cut (M/W swimming and diving, M/W golf and M lightweight rowing). Brown and Stanford cut and reinstated sports teams in the same time frame too. I’m sure there were more I’m forgetting.
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W&M comes to mind. Brown also demoted some teams (squash) to club.
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All the Ivies have plenty of money to fund athletic scholarships (but I don’t see them doing that unless forced to, just my opinion).
I believe Ivy league schools do need a basketball team to stay in the Ivy league. I don’t think Dartmouth wants to be thrown out of the Ivy league.
I don’t know what the players think they will get by joining a union. Is the union going to negotiate with Dartmouth or the Ivy League. It is not Dartmouth that says no scholarships but the Ivy league. I don’t know if the Ivy league allows them to have NIL contracts, but that’s how other athletes are making their money.
D1 teams are not required to give scholarships. Take Georgetown, for example. Big East/D1 Swimming. No scholarships.
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Yes, but a 1-12 team is easily replaced by “unhooked” players who could yield similar results. These current players applied as student athletes fully aware of the “rules” and leveraged their “hooked” status into acceptances. If they do not want to continue to participate by “striking” that is regrettable as they may not have gotten in without their implied desire to play. That said replace them and worst case the new team goes 0-13.
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Yes, they can have NIL deals. Many Ivy athletes do, but not to the degree of Bronny James, Caleb Williams, Olivia Dunne, or Caitlin Clark (all making $3M-$6M per year).
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