Tennessee Volunteers Design Potential Collective Bargaining Model

College basketball players at the University of Tennessee partnered with outside representation to create the first model in a potential move to create a collective-bargaining agreement for college athletics.

In an Associated Press article by Eddie Pells, the author described the process by which three members of the Volunteer basketball program worked with an outside group that represents college athletes to design the most comprehensive model of what a collective-bargaining agreement may look like. Within the term sheet, it "outlines guidelines for paying players, the transfer portal, academics, and ways to enforce rules in an industry that pays millions to athletes under the guise that the money is for things other than playing sports."

The term sheet, released by Athletes.org, is the first of its kind in terms of its detail in outlining benefits and protections to student athletes. Previous attempts to provide "union-like" safeties for college athletes had failed, such as Northwestern Football's attempt at unionizing in 2014, due to the timing of the attempts taking place prior to the nationwide integration of NIL policies.

However, in this modern era of athletes receiving compensation for their name, image, and likeness rights, the power dynamic has shifted drastically in favor of the athletes. Several court cases and favorable rulings have seen athletes earn legal wins that provide a backbone for potential strides in unionizing, similar to player unions at the professional levels.

The biggest surprise from Pells' article is that he discloses that support for Tennessee's CBA is coming from the administration at the university. The Tennessee athletic director, Danny White, is listed as supporting the CBA as a means to "save an industry under increasing financial pressure in a world of $50 million football rosters."

One of the potential drawbacks comes from the idea of standardizing practices from school to school. Larger schools such as Tennessee would find it easier to regulate and meet the demands of their athletes under this agreement, but smaller Division I programs and lower-division schools would be under intense demands that they likely could not satisfy financially.

The push from Tennessee Basketball is still a far way off from being put into practice, but the idea of seeing wider regulation for athlete compensation, along with support from university administration, is a strong step in the right direction for those in support.