In a landmark ruling, a local National Labor Relations Board has found that USC football and basketball players are employees of the university, Pac-12 and NCAA.
If the finding is upheld in court, it could apply to athletes who play basketball or football at other private universities, giving them the rights of employees, including the right to unionize.
According to Sportico.com, the NLRB Los Angeles region issued a statement explaining the ruling. It declared that USC, the Pac-12 and NCAA “maintained unlawful rules and unlawfully misclassified scholarship basketball and football players as mere ‘student-athletes’ rather than employees entitled to protections under our law.”
The board had been investigating a complaint of unfair labor practices levied against the NCAA last year by the College Basketball Players Association (CBPA). According to Sportico, it decided to focus on an unfair labor practices charge filed on behalf of USC football and basketball players by the National College Players Association (NCPA).
Ramogi Huma, the NCPA’s executive director, applauded the NLRB’s finding.
“Gaining employee status and the right to organize is an important part in ending NCAA sports business practices that illegally exploit college athletes’ labor,” Huma said.
Sportico said the next likely step involves the case going before an administrative law judge. That decision could then be appealed to the five-member national NLRB board. Sportico’s Daniel Libit noted the ruling represents the most “significant workers’ rights milestone for college athletes since the NLRB’s Chicago region ruled in 2014 that grant-in-aid football players at Northwestern should be considered employees under the National Labor Relations Act.”
However, Libit noted, “there are a million miles — including federal court interventions — between this and college athletes gaining employee rights.”
In an unrelated move, the NCAA announced Thursday that Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker will assume the role of NCAA President on March 1, 2023.
