In a historic development, UAB football players tell ESPN that their entire roster has agreed to sign up for Athletes.org, a group that describes itself as “the players association for college athletes.” The Blazers will become the first Division 1 football team to publicly join the organization.
The move was announced by UAB quarterback Jacob Zeno in a video posted to multiple social media platforms.
For the first time in history, a Players Association for college athletes presented its entire solution to a team and its staff. After the University of Alabama-Birmingham's football team heard https://t.co/GyRYIKxTK9's (AO) full presentation, the entire team decided to become… pic.twitter.com/pMCudEhJ7v
— The Athletes Organization (@AthletesOrg) April 29, 2024
“Me and my teammates learned about the future of college athletics and how the college football business has worked and will work in the near future,” Zeno stated. “Me and my team decided to make history by being the first entire team to sign up and become members of Athletes.org.”
“To all my friends in college football: join us as we prepare for the future of college athletics.”
“In a way, we’ve been cheated out of money, and decisions are being made behind our back. It’s not really fair because we do so much for the sport, for the school and the conference,” Zeno later told ESPN. “We should at least deserve to know what’s going on and what decisions are being made.”
“[The players are] going to have a seat at the table,” UAB head coach Trent Dilfer told ESPN. “I wanted to make sure I helped pour gasoline on something that is going to happen no matter what. I might as well use my influence to help it happen faster on behalf of our players.”
According to the players, “every member of the team signed up to join the organization after hearing its pitch.” UAB running back Isaiah Jacobs told ESPN he envisions a future in which “a broader group of players can push for a bigger piece of television revenue as well as other resources like increased mental health support from their schools.”
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The move is not a formal unionization effort, like the Dartmouth’s men basketball team engaged in earlier this year. UAB players currently have no plans to initiate collecting bargaining with their university. Despite its nature, which is largely symbolic for now, the move marks a milestone in a college sports world growing cognizant of an impending athlete’s rights revolution.
Athletes.org founder Jim Cavale said his company is trying to “lay the groundwork” for whatever system develops after the NCAA’s current legal situation is resolved.
“We’re not in there to get them to boycott, but we do understand the power they can have,” he told ESPN. “When it is time to negotiate, we’ll be prepared to have UAB be a part of that negotiation. We’re building the pipes for the negotiation of the new deal for college athletics — the pipes for the athletes to be in that conversation.”
As of Monday afternoon, UAB has not yet released a statement on the matter.
Athletes.org, whose current membership consists of nearly 3,000 athletes, is one of several organizations trying to position themselves as the preeminent player bargaining representative. Shortly after the news broke, college sports business analyst Matt Brown said he “deeply” believes the selection of a bargaining representative will be “one of the absolute biggest stories in college sports this summer.”
I deeply believe this is one of the absolute biggest stories in college sports this summer. There can't be effective bargaining or revenue sharing without an athlete rep on the other side of the table. Who is that going to be…and who will pick it?https://t.co/tOfGpWsHqR pic.twitter.com/zUnuotXLAk
— Matt Brown (@MattBrownEP) April 29, 2024
Competing bargaining organizations include The Collective Association and SANIL, each of which manage NIL-based collectives, and the College Football Players Association, which has built membership through traditional labor organizing methods like donations and dues.
Athletes.org is currently funded by venture capitalists, but “plans to make money in the future by taking a percentage of some group licensing deals they hope to strike on behalf of their members.” The organization says its members have access to “support services such as legal advice, medical second opinions and mental health professionals for free.”
Cavale said that the organization’s next goal is to sign at least half of the football, men’s basketball, and women’s basketball players from power conferences — of which there are roughly 10,000. Cavale wants to do so by the end of 2024.
Athletes.org told ESPN that they are in conversations with “several” power conference schools about setting up visits in the upcoming months.
Charles Vaughan is a contributing writer for Yellowhammer News.
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