re: Northwestern players denied request to form first union for athletes

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People like yourself are going to be so excited to be right while the game itself and its fans are screwed. Congrats.

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Per the model of amateurism, NCAA decisions should not be made for the fans' benefit. The fact that the NCAA caters to its fans (often at the detriment to its student-athletes) makes it a business, not an amateur enterprise. As such, the people providing the labor should challenge their compensation, especially with regards to capitalizing on their own names and likenesses.

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The only restriction is eligibility with the NCAA itself.

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In the case of football, the NCAA provides the only viable path to a career in that multi-billion dollar entertainment industry , so that's another implied restriction.

As for destroying the game itself - it's up to the NCAA to make proactive common sense changes to their policies to not let that happen. These include providing better long term medical coverage for career ending injuries, multi-year scholarships, allowing athletes to transfer directly without taking a year off if their coaching staff transfers (especially in football where athlete-scheme pairings are so important), and giving athletes some ownership of their own name.