Sen. Tommy Tuberville on Dartmouth basketball union: 'This will absolutely kill college sports'

A day after the Dartmouth men’s basketball team voted to form a union — a historic moment in college sports — former college football coach and current U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville shared his thoughts.

Sitting for an interview on Fox News’ “American Reports,” the former Auburn and Ole Miss head coach did not hold back on how he thinks unionization would reshape college sports.

The senior U.S. Senator from Alabama has reemerged as a figure in college sports in the last 18 months, working closely with West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin (D) on the “Protecting Athletes, Schools and Sports Act of 2023,” nicknamed the “Pass Act,” which was released this past July.

“They’re going to kill the goose that laid the golden egg—all these athletes are—because it pays for everything,” the Senator said. “Scholarships are paid — men and women — but there’s a lot of people that don’t bring in money to universities. But what’s going to happen here is you’re going to see groups of people that’s going to try to unionize and then it’s going to spread across the country. We’ve been fighting it here. Joe Manchin and I did a NIL bill that was bipartisan, but it kept unionization out, but the Democrats wanted it in.

“That’s the reason we haven’t gotten it to the floor. But this will absolutely kill college sports. You know, the last time I looked, they’re not employees. These students are student-athletes. And if you want the federal government involved and ruin something, you try to make the student-athletes employees. Soon the federal government will get involved, unions will get involved, and it will be a total disaster.”

College sports barreling toward employment model

Dartmouth men’s basketball players will now be represented by Service Employees International Union Local 560.  Dartmouth has filed its formal request for review with the full National Labor Relations Board of the regional director’s Feb. 5 ruling that the athletes are employees of the college.

If necessary, the school can also appeal to federal courts, meaning it could be a lengthy period before players can negotiate a collective bargaining agreement with the school.

In addition to the situation playing out in Hanover, New Hampshire, multiple forces are driving the NCAA toward employment. An NLRB trial in Los Angeles alleges USC, the Pac-12 Conference and the NCAA are joint employers of USC’s football and men’s and women’s basketball players.

Plus, the Johnson v. NCAA lawsuit is asking that athletes be deemed employees subject to the Fair Labor Standards Act. That requires covered employees to be paid minimum wage and overtime pay, much like non-athletes at colleges who participate in work-study programs

Sen. Tuberville: ‘It’s a full-time job being an athlete’

The NCAA has been lobbying Congress for legislation for nearly a year. Tuberville’s Pass Act attempts to address multiple facets the NCAA has been pushing for: uniform contracts, preemption of state NIL laws and an agent registry run by the Federal Trade Commission. The bill would also prohibit athletes from entering the transfer portal during their first three years of eligibility.

Tuberville’s colleague, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), circulated a discussion draft in July that would ensure athletes are not employees and includes a state law preemption. The bill would bar states from enacting laws on compensation, employment status, athlete eligibility or NIL.

The senator admitted in his interview Wednesday that while being an athlete is a “full-time job,” unionization is not the answer in college sports.

“Well, they’re already getting paid,” he said. “And I’m not against student-athletes making some money because it’s a full-time job being an athlete, and a full-time job being in academics. But there’s a way forward where they can do both without unionizing.

“… Coaches are going to get out of the business. Coaches right now have a little bit of control of the football team or the basketball team or gymnastics. Problem is, [if] unions get involved, they will go on strike right before a championship game. They will hold hostage the people that are paying the bills.”