Greg Sankey addresses potential of unionizing among student-athletes after House settlement passing

The dust is still settling on a new landscape in collegiate athletics, after Judge Claudia Wilken approved the landmark House v. NCAA settlement. SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey provided his reaction to a number of developments during an appearance on Golic and Golic on Friday.

One of those developments includes the idea of student-athletes unionizing in this new world of college sports. Sankey explained his thoughts on that idea, wondering why they would think of going that route, as they’re in a pretty solid position at the moment.

“I think that’s problematic for a number of reasons,” Sankey stated, via the FanDuel Sports Network. “People speculate. I’ll start with our student-athletes. And we meet with young people. They’re not informed by us, but we have conversations, and they say, ‘Look, we don’t want to be employees of the university. We think there’s something different in this relationship.’ And so that’s one of the first steps, the notion of collective bargaining activity within states that have either policies or laws or restrictions around that is real.

“I think there’s a better way. I think you essentially have a bargain that’s been struck with student athletes, who are part of the plaintiffs and the class here, that has been established with their representatives. And that can work. 

“I’ll also say, Mike, one of the fundamental flaws in people’s thinking is what has to happen is the participants, the universities, have to agree to a system, and people will analogize, often, between college and professional sports. Fundamentally, professional sports franchises agree, through their agreements that they will honor the rules, they will follow the rules, and they will assign to their Commissioner authority for accountability if people don’t operate within the boundary. So it’s a complex issue. I think there are some basic realities that keep bubbling up.

“I also will offer that the experience of a young person right now is outstanding. The kind of medical care, nutritional support, the economic benefits, I think we’ve exceeded what people would have expected. And those opportunities need to be honored and respected in this system, not continually speculating about others.”

Evidently, Sankey wouldn’t understand why student-athletes would want to unionize, especially with the perks they’re receiving following this settlement. Time will tell if the SEC Commissioner is right or if student-athletes try to flip the script. One thing is for sure: this is a new era of college sports.