Stanford football players form first College Football Players Association chapter, push toward unionization
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The movement toward collective bargaining in college football took another significant step Monday. Stanford football players have established the first current player-led public chapter of the College Football Players Association (CFBPA), creating what the organization believes to be the foundation for future unionization and collective bargaining efforts.
Yahoo Sports’ Ross Dellengerreported the development the university became the first program to reach the membership threshold required to elect player representatives. According to a CFBPA press release, the chapter is intended to serve as the first building block in creating player representation across college football.
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Alas, the chapter marks a milestone in the fifth year of the CFBPA’s existence. Fifth-year senior offensive lineman Fisher Anderson and fifth-year senior linebacker Ernest Cooper were elected as Stanford’s first player representatives after the Cardinal reached the required membership threshold.
Those representatives are now encouraging players around the country to establish chapters at their own schools: “Stanford has been a pioneer and an innovator not just in football but as a school in general,” Cooper said in the CFBPA press release.
“This first-ever current player-led chapter at Stanford is just another example of this innovation. We want to be the leaders in college football and show other schools how they can create a chapter on their campus because we believe this is the future of college football.”
The CFBPA stated via press release that their chapter model is designed to educate, organize and advocate on behalf of current college football players while creating player leadership at the campus level. According to the release, that infrastructure is intended to eventually support unionization efforts and conference-wide collective bargaining agreements.
Anderson called the formation of the chapter a “milestone” and believes more programs will soon follow Stanford’s lead: “The time is now to do something,” Anderson told Yahoo Sports. “This is college football and it’s increasingly becoming more like the NFL. At some point, we’re likely going to need a CFBPA.”
He echoed that sentiment in the organization’s press release: “Over the past five years, college football has been rocked back and forth by the waves,” Anderson said. “When a CBPA chapter becomes a reality on every college football team, it would put down an anchor where there isn’t one right now for the sport.
“The chapters can then become the building blocks for conference-wide collective bargaining agreements which would bring sustainability, transparency and player protections to a sport in need of all three.”
According to the CFBPA, Stanford’s chapter is envisioned as the first of what could eventually become 17 chapters across the ACC: “College football players deserve a meaningful voice in the decisions that shape their athletic, academic and economic futures,” CFBPA Executive Director Jason Stahl said in the press release.
“Stanford football is the first of what the CBPA envisions as seventeen ACC football chapters, creating the framework for conference-wide player representation and, ultimately, collective bargaining.”
As college athletics continues evolving in the revenue-sharing era, Stanford’s decision represents another notable development in the ongoing conversation surrounding player rights and the future governance of college football. It remains to be seen which other schools decide to join, but it seems like more could be following suit.
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