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Wednesday, January 29, 2014

Are some administrators shivering?

No, not because of the cold weather in other parts of the country.  Rather, because of the headline regarding Northwestern University's football program in today's Inside Higher Ed: 

Athletes Move to Unionize

The Internet – or at least, the piece of the Internet where people pay moderate attention to college sports – blew up Tuesday afternoon with the news that some number of Northwestern University football players are seeking to unionize.  The apparently unprecedented step is a potential watershed moment for athletes in commercial sports programs like those at Northwestern, who were lauded by outspoken critics and sports columnists who have driven much of the public interest in whether athletes deserve more than they’re getting for all the revenue they bring institutions in the era of highly commercialized sports. If they succeed, the athletes could gain a crucial say in hot-button issues like safety rules, revenue sharing and scholarship limitations...


The thought of losing some control of the "business model" for university athletics programs undoubtedly is cause for shivers in high places.

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