A new survey from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affair Research found that 55 percent of adults in the United States believe NCAA athletes should not be allowed to form unions that would allow them to be classified as employees and to collectively bargain with their schools.
Younger respondents to the survey were more open to the idea, with 6 in 10 adults under the age of 45 showing support for allowing college athletes to unionize.
Across party lines, 56 percent of Democrats and about half of Independents say athletes should be permitted to form unions. Only 23 percent of Republicans are supportive.
The survey comes as House Republicans on Tuesday warned that unionization poses a "existential threat" to the future of college sports, while Democrats countered that "the sky is not falling."
“The increased costs of unionization and administrative headaches would threaten to make low-funded programs economically unviable, including many women’s sports and small-school athletic programs, resulting in fewer teams, fewer scholarships, and fewer opportunities for young people,” said Representative Burgess Owens, a Utah Republican, at Tuesday’s hearing on “safeguarding student-athletes,” according to Inside Higher Education.
Democrats countered that college athletes should be able to share revenue with their schools and bargain over provisions such as healthcare, arguing that some athletes experience food insecurity at higher rates than the general student population.
“Unionization or the opportunity for unionization is not the end but the beginning for an equitable system and treatment for people who frequently get the short end of the stick especially in a multi-billion industry,” said Representative Mark DeSaulnier, a California Democrat.
DeSaulnier argued that even the threat of student unionization could force schools to improve how they treat their athletes.
