They Want the Labor. They Just Don't Want to Pay For It.

Let's be blunt about what 'declares athletes are not employees' actually means in 2025. It means Congress is being asked to write into federal law — permanently — that the people generating billions in revenue, submitting to coaches' authority, following team rules, and performing on national television are legally something other than workers. Not because the facts support it. Because the NCAA needs it to survive in its current form. This isn't a gray area anymore. Courts have already said the NCAA's amateur model is not above antitrust law. The Johnson v. NCAA case is working through the system right now asking exactly this question. And rather than let that play out, Congress is being lobbied to short-circuit it — to hand the NCAA a statutory shield before a court can take it away. Think about the offensive lineman at a major program. He's in the facility 50 hours a week. He has no say over his schedule. He can lose his scholarship for performance reasons. But he's 'not an employee.' Who does this declaration protect? Not him. So here's the question: if this passes, what recourse does that athlete have left — and are you okay with the answer?