Sports Law Attorney Mit Winter Talks Dartmouth

(Editor’s note: Courtesy of 2adays.com and journalist Bella Kevin, shared below is a question and answer from a recent interview the media outlet had with sports law attorney Mid Winter of Kennyhertz Perry. The insightful interview centered primarily on NIL and can be viewed here. However we wanted to share Winter’s thoughts on the developing story at Dartmouth,)

Question: The Dartmouth basketball team recently voted to unionize – can you talk to us about your thoughts on this case and how will impact the NCAA?

Answer: Before the Dartmouth basketball players unionized, they had to be declared employees of the university. They had to file a petition with the National Labor Relations Board. Once they did that, the NLRB regional office said “Yes, Dartmouth men’s basketball, you are employees of the university based on our legal analysis.” This gave the basketball team the ability to vote to unionize. Now, they are represented by a preexisting union in New Hampshire. Dartmouth is now supposed to collectively bargain with the union and the players over the terms of their employment. How much are they going to get paid? What are their working conditions going to be like?

Dartmouth has said, “No, we don’t think you are employees even though the NRLB said that. We aren’t going to collectively bargain with you.” It is going to have to go through the legal process. It will probably be a couple of years before we have a final answer on whether some college athletes are going to be employees.