The NCAA’s business model of amateurism took another major blow Tuesday, when the Dartmouth men’s basketball team became the first in NCAA Division I history to officially vote to unionize. The vote, which went 13–2, follows a February decision from the National Labor Relations Board regional director that players are classified as employees under U.S. labor law.

The historic vote, which took place on Dartmouth’s campus during a cold and rainy afternoon, is the next step in a long case going through the NLRB that was first filed in September by the players with representation from the Service Employees International Union Local 560 chapter.

“Today is a big day for our team,” Cade Haskins and Romeo Myrthil, two players leading the effort, said in a statement. “We stuck together all season and won this election. It is self-evident that we, as students, can also be both campus workers and union members. Dartmouth seems to be stuck in the past.

“It’s time for the age of amateurism to end,” they said.

If players unionize, they could bargain for everything from wages to limits on hours and overtime pay, as well as become eligible for workers’ compensation—a benefit the NCAA has spent decades trying to keep players from qualifying for. Haskins, a junior, noted he also hoped for extra health insurance benefits to cover costs related to injuries.

A successful union petition could set a new precedent that suggests all D-I basketball players—and potentially all varsity athletes—at private schools could be reclassified as employees. The NLRB doesn’t have jurisdiction over the public sector, but the NCAA may need to allow D-I players at public schools to be employees in order to keep the NCAA intact. (Another NLRB case taking place in California over USC football and basketball player employment status could result in giving the NLRB official jurisdiction over public school D-I athletes, however.

After the vote concluded, the university filed its official appeal of the entire ruling to the NLRB’s national board, a process that could go all the way up to the Supreme Court. “Classifying these students as employees simply because they play basketball is as unprecedented as it is inaccurate,” Dartmouth said in a statement. “We, therefore, do not believe unionization is appropriate.”

While the path to college athlete employment remains long, the players at Dartmouth seem committed to seeing it through.

Read Amanda Christovich’s entire story here.

The run of Caitlin Clark records continues to expand, as Fox said Tuesday that the Iowa superstar’s final regular-season game was the most-watched nonplayoff women’s college basketball game on any network since 1999. The average audience of 3.39 million viewers also set a network record. 

Some Think Clark Should Have Stayed Put: That history-making ability to attract mass audiences and Clark’s recent announcement of her decision to declare for the WNBA draft has sparked a wide range of opinion pieces and sports-talk discussion about whether Clark would benefit by staying in college for a fifth year. She would be eligible for an additional year since she competed during the COVID-19 pandemic, and many have argued she would be better off financially by receiving continued name, image, and likeness money at Iowa than a WNBA salary.

We Don’t Know What Fueled Her Choice: The debate ignores a critical human element as well as her own perspective and personal autonomy. Clark, like any other elite athlete, certainly is considering the financial implications of any major decision such as this. But finances are not the sole factor in this decision, which stand alongside other competitive and life goals. Clark herself spoke to this before Sunday’s game, saying, “I think I’m ready for the next chapter in my life.”

—Eric Fisher

LIV Golf ⬇ The controversial league has abandoned its efforts to secure Official World Golf Ranking points, formally withdrawing its application for accreditation, as first reported by Sports Illustrated. LIV has faced an uphill battle for OWGR points since its inception in 2022 due to its limited fields, lack of expansive qualifying methods, and 54-hole, no-cut format. The Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia, which has financially backed LIV with billions of dollars, is still in discussions to invest in the PGA Tour. Should that deal be completed, future seasons of LIV could have an easier time gaining OWGR accreditation in correlation with the wider PGA Tour schedule.

WNBA expansion ⬆ Toronto’s bid to join the league now has the backing of one of Canada’s most influential sports moguls: Larry Tanenbaum, chairperson of multiclub parent company Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment, according to CBC Sports. MLSE’s portfolio includes the Maple Leafs, Raptors, and Toronto FC, but Tanenbaum is pursuing the WNBA team separately through his company, the Kilmer Group. Last year, Toronto drew a huge crowd for a WNBA preseason game and has been seen as a front-runner for expansion after Portland’s bid for the league’s 14th team fell through.

Mercury 13 ⬆ The company that launched last year with $100 million in financial backing and a goal of building a multiclub women’s soccer portfolio has made its first acquisition: FC Como Women of Italy’s Serie A.

Nationals fans ⬆ This season, D.C. residents can purchase up to four $5 tickets per game in an expansion of the MLB club’s discounted-ticket program. Previously, Washington made roughly 400 day-of-game $5 tickets available in the upper deck, typically from its unsold inventory.