Tennessee men's basketball players conduct mock collective bargaining exercise with athletic department
Tennessee men's basketball players, working with Athletes.org, conducted a voluntary mock negotiating session with the university's athletic department to demonstrate how a college sports collective bargaining agreement could function. The two sides released a detailed term sheet built around five pillars — compensation, player movement, health and wellness, rules and enforcement, and academic support — though none of the terms are legally binding under current law. Key provisions in the exercise included pay-for-play starting upon campus arrival, a salary floor for all roster members, injury guarantees, post-eligibility health coverage, and a modified transfer portal window. Athletes.org, founded in 2023, says the model could be adapted across college sports and is currently running a similar exercise with Tennessee's football program.
Collective bargaining is a proven model that works across all of professional sports and, through Athletes.org, athletes can help create a healthy, durable solution for the future of college athletics.
Why it matters
For service providers: Athlete representation and advisory firms should note that the term sheet explicitly involves third-party representation as a central mechanism of the proposed bargaining framework.
For brands: Brands and NIL partners should be aware that the proposed framework explicitly moves away from NIL arrangements used as compensation workarounds, which could affect how deals are structured in a future CBA environment.
For coaches: Coaches operating in power conferences could face a structured CBA environment that changes roster management, compensation obligations, and player retention incentives.
For athletes: College players gain a concrete, public example of what binding compensation terms, transfer protections, and long-term health coverage could look like if schools and players ever reach the bargaining table.
For collectives: The model positions third-party organizations like Athletes.org as formal intermediaries in future player-school negotiations, potentially reshaping how collectives and player-rep groups operate.
Read the full story at CBS Sports
Sources
- CBS Sports · Matt Norlander: What if college athletes could collectively bargain? Tennessee basketball just experimented with the concept
- Yahoo Sports: What Tennessee basketball players said about proposed CBA, athletes as employees
- Yahoo Sports: What Tennessee basketball players said about proposed CBA, athletes as employees
- CBS Sports · Brandon Marcello: Tennessee players launch first bargaining plan as college sports bill faces tight deadline