As many of you know I spent almost two decades as the radio voice for Western New Mexico University athletics. That gave me access to many of the internal workings of an athletic department: not just at WNMU but also at other universities that we visited regularly. Some of you may know there are significant changes being implemented in college athletics over the last several months. Athletes can now be paid for their name, image, and likeness. But it may not stop there.

The National Labor Relations board issued a statement this week that classified student athletes as employees of the university. This is a new designation because in the eyes of many they are not employees. These are student athletes, many of whom are receiving a scholarship to play for that particular university or college. Technically because they are receiving something of value, you could say that they are employees because under some workers compensation laws they would have to be covered as employees or they could have to include the compensation they receive on their income tax. For example many ranch employees who receive free housing have to include the value of that not just for workers compensation but on their income tax. But this has not been the case in the past.

Many student athletes have complained that they cannot have a job while participating in athletic endeavors. Thus, they don't have any walking around money or money to purchase a pizza or a beer. My solution has been to pay them similar to other work study students, those who might work in the library or the business office for example. often these students are paid $10 an hour for their work time. You could do the same with all student athletes, paying them for the hours they are required to practice or participate in a sporting event. Unfortunately no one listens to me.

But back to the designation of employees. Two years ago, football players at Northwestern University tried to form a collective bargaining unit, a union. Among their stated objectives was to require the university to pay student athletes, come up provide lifetime medical care for injuries that they may have suffered while participating in athletics, and some other demands such as the amount of practice time they were required to attend. A federal judge struck down their attempt saying they were not employees. Now, with the recognition by the NLRB, it opens the door for athletes to collectively bargain.

So what impact would that have on college athletics? It will no doubt increase the cost of operating an athletic department. That could result, for most colleges and universities, in the tough decision to have to eliminate certain sports. Despite what you see in the media, it is only a handful of universities or colleges that have revenue that exceeds the cost of operations. We always hear about the money the NCAA makes off of football bowl games or basketball championship tournaments. Yes, some athletic departments like Alabama or Oklahoma make a lot of money. But they are the exception and not even close to being the rule. Soon you could see sports that are not revenue producing eliminated, such as tennis, golf, track and field, or cross country. That would eliminate the opportunity for some students to go to a college and receive a scholarship.

But more importantly and concerning to me is what often happens when you have a union and management that cannot agree on some issue. Can you imagine the football players at Alabama deciding to go on strike right before the biggest football game of the year? Given Alabama's history that could be the SEC championship or the national championship game that would ensue. Think of the chaos if the players refused to play in the game. And of course you would have government bureaucrats stepping in to resolve the situation which is never a good thing.

We have already seen what happened in the NFL as that players union successfully negotiated to reduce the amount of practice time, the amount of preseason games, and the amount of time spent practicing in pads. The quality of the game has decreased. Players are not practicing in simulated game conditions and the early season games have seen a decrease in the level of performance from the best athletes in the game. The same thing will happen in college. And people could grow tired of the situation just as they have with the NBA, Major League Baseball, and the NFL. That would decrease viewership and participation from alumni which means reduced income.

But as usually happens, those who may have good intentions and a legitimate grievance don't really consider the unintended consequences or history. but I agree there does need to be some change in the system. They are in danger of killing the goose that laid the golden egg. I guess we can all watch soccer.