Last week, the National Labor Relations Board's general counsel ruled that scholarship football players at 17 private universities were in fact employees of their institutions. The ruling affects the following schools: Baylor, Boston College, Brigham Young, Duke, Miami, Northwestern, Notre Dame, Rice, Southern California, Southern Methodist, Stanford, Syracuse, Texas Christian, Tulane, Tulsa, Vanderbilt and Wake Forest. Players now enjoy the right to "concerted activities for the purpose of [their] mutual aid and protection." The athletes can petition for pay as well as other workers' rights. The decision could be overturned by the new general counsel that will be appointed by President Trump, who would take office in November.
See "NLRB rules football players at private FBS schools are employees", Lester Munson, ESPN, February 6, 2017