Over 100 Women's Hoops Players Join Union Push The recent news that over 100 women's college basketball players have joined a unionization campaign to be recognized as employees rather than student athletes is the latest salvo in a long standing battle between NCAA administrators and their charges.
This development raises fundamental questions about the nature of college sports: are athletes merely students with athletic abilities or do they warrant the same rights and protections afforded to employees?
The distinction between amateur and professional athlete has become increasingly blurred as high profile endorsement deals, lucrative TV contracts, and sophisticated marketing efforts proliferate.