Study of Unionization in College Athletics
Date
5-11-2025
Document Type
Non Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts
Department
Kinesiology
First Advisor
Ryan Hubbard
Abstract
Ever since Name, Image, Likeness (NIL) revenue came into play for athletes in 2021, many college administrators and lawmakers have been proposing ways to create fair pay-to-play regulations. In March 2024, the Dartmouth basketball team decided in a 13-2 vote to join a union. Could unionization be a solution for college athletics and what would its effects be? This paper explored this issue by proposing a qualitative study to research unionization in college athletics. The proposed methods of this study are interviews and surveys of college administrators, coaches, and athletes to better understand if unionization could benefit the sport. This paper showed that many NIL deals involve enormous amounts of money. Many research articles used in this proposal felt that regulations are needed to keep a fair competitive balance. By understanding what proposals are out there, this study could create a clearer picture of the future of college athletics. This would be beneficial for future athletes and employees in college athletics to understand the realm that they are entering. This paper introduced and explained the methods and reasoning for this study if it were to be carried out.