Athletes in $2.8 billion college lawsuit tell judge they want to start players’ association

Athletes whose lawsuit against the NCAA is poised to pave the way for schools to pay them directly also want a players’ association to represent them in complex contract negotiations that have extended beyond sports.

Grant House, Sedona Prince and Nya Harrison wrote to the judge overseeing what is known as House’s settlement, saying that while they are generally satisfied with the terms of the proposed settlement, “there still remains a critical need for structural changes to protect athletes and prevent the failures of the past.

It would be a players’ association that they say would help their voices be better heard as the NCAA and its schools move toward a system to share hundreds of millions in player revenue. television and tickets with the players.

The players said an association would help standardize name and likeness (NIL) contracts to establish minimum payments and health protections “and to create an ecosystem in which athletes can thrive.”

“While professional leagues include athletes in these decisions through their respective players associations, the collegiate system continues to prevent our players association from representing us at decision-making tables,” the letter states.

The settlement, worth $2.8 billion that will be distributed over the next 10 years to past and present players, does not specify whether athletes should be considered employees of the schools. It’s a problem the NCAA is asking Congress to avoid, lest the costs ruin college sports.

The NCAA did not immediately respond to a message from The Associated Press seeking comment Tuesday.

Earlier this year, the president of the National College Players Association confirmed that a licensing organization that works with the NFL Players’ Association had sent an email to thousands of college football players, encouraging them to join the NCPA. Separately, the president of another group trying to recruit college athletes, athletes.org, said it already had some 4,000 members. The players who wrote the letter said they wanted to work with athletes.org.

A hearing to approve the settlement is scheduled for April 7. The request could determine how U.S. Judge Claudia Wilken views the settlement’s chances of success in the long term, but the plaintiffs’ lawyer, Jeffrey Kessler, said the letter constitutes an approval of the settlement and that it does not not. I don’t expect this to have any impact on the deal.

“These three athletes fully support approval of the settlement, but wish to express their additional view that a players association is also desirable,” Kessler said. “I applaud their dedication to these issues and that of their fellow college athletes.”

Whether college athletes can ever be considered school employees is a thorny subject. Multiple issues are before the National Labor Relations Board, including a complaint against USC and the Pac-12; a unionization effort by the Dartmouth men’s basketball team; an unfair labor complaint against Notre-Dame; and a federal lawsuit in Pennsylvania filed by former Villanova football player Trey Johnson.

All of this could lead to college athletes gaining employee status, although court battles are assured.