|
 "It seems to be exactly the wrong way to go," Starr told the
Education and the Workforce Committee in the Republican-led House of
Representatives, referring to the unionization of college athletes.
But the panel's top Democrat, George Miller of California, said
college athletes were "asking smart questions" about why they have
been reduced to being "commodities" within the multi-billion dollar
"empire" controlled by the National Collegiate Athletic Association,
the governing body for major college sports.
The hearing was prompted by a U.S. National Labor Relations Board
(NLRB) regional director's decision in March that Northwestern
University's scholarship football players could vote on joining a
union.
The Northwestern players voted in April, although the results might
not be known for months. The ballots are impounded while the NLRB
board in Washington reviews the regional director's finding that the
student athletes are school employees who have the right to pursue
union representation. [ID:nL2N0NH1L6]
 Starr, a former federal judge and prosecutor well known for
investigating the Monica Lewinsky scandal during Bill Clinton's
presidency, said the NLRB finding could cause uncertainty and
instability across higher education.
There could be disparities between teammates depending on the size
and scope of the bargaining units approved to hold elections by the
NLRB, said Starr, whose private Christian university is located in
Waco, Texas.
"The unit that was recognized by the regional director doesn't
include the entire football team, so if you're a walk-on
(non-scholarship player), the representative is not going to be
representing you, you're going to be outside the unit. That's a
fundamental issue," Starr said.
Patrick Eilers, a former football player for the University of Notre
Dame who later played for the NFL's Chicago Bears, Washington
Redskins and Minnesota Vikings, said changes are needed in college
sports, but unionization is not the right way to go.
[to top of second column] |
"I'm concerned that calling student-athletes 'employees' will make
the system more of a business than it already is," Eilers said.
Miller said that, in the past four decades, colleges and
universities through the NCAA "have perfected the art of monetizing
the athletic play of their best football and basketball players and
teams.
"They have created nothing less than a big business empire. That
empire is consumed and driven by multi-billion dollar exclusive
television, radio, and multi-media deals, branding agreements,
prime-time sports shows and celebrity coaches with seven-figure
salaries," Miller added.
The NCAA oversees sports programs at more than 1,200 U.S.
universities, as well as a few in Canada, and sets rules that bar
athletes from being compensated for playing collegiate sports.
Witness Andy Schwarz, a consultant who specializes in the economics
of antitrust, sports and entertainment, called the NCAA a
price-fixing cartel.
"Given the one-sided market power imposed by collusion, it's not
surprising that the players have turned to labor law and
unionization for a modicum of countervailing bargaining power,"
Schwarz said.
(Reporting by Amanda Becker; Editing by Will Dunham and Andre
Grenon)
[© 2014 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
Copyright 2014 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 |
