Stanford football creates first player-led chapter in players association
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Stanford football players have formed the first-ever player-led chapter of the College Football Players Association (CFBPA) the organization announced on Monday, July 27. It's a first step toward potentially unionizing college athletes and developing a collective bargaining agreement.
Members of the Stanford chapter elected current players fifth-year offensive lineman Fisher Anderson and fifth-year linebacker Ernest Cooper as their representatives.
"Over the past five years, college football has been rocked back and forth by the waves," Anderson said in the announcement. "When a CFBPA 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 in a sport in need of all three."
ESPN reported football coach Tavita Pritchard and general manager Andrew Luck are aware of the players' decision to create the CFBPA chapter, neither supporting nor condemning it. A request for comment was not returned by Stanford football to USA TODAY Sports at the time of publication.
A collective bargaining agreement across college football has gained steam in recent months, following a potential model similar to professional sports in the United States as NIL has revolutionized the college game. SEC commissioner Greg Sankey, a thought leader in college athletics, was open-minded about a potential CBA last week at SEC Media Days, while still maintaining his stance that the SEC could break away from the NCAA.
The CFBPA was founded five years ago by executive director Jason Stahl, a former faculty member at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. In the organization's release, Stahl said the hope is for Stanford to become the first of 17 Atlantic Coast Conference chapters that collectively deal with conference leadership.
"College football players deserve a meaningful voice in the decisions that shape their athletic, academic and economic futures," Stahl said in a statement. "As members of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC), Stanford players should have the opportunity to collectively engage with conference leadership on issues affecting their rights and working conditions.
"Stanford football is the first of what the CFBPA envisions as 17 ACC football chapters, creating the framework for conference-wide player representation and, ultimately, collective bargaining."
USA TODAY Sports has reached out to the ACC for comment, which was not returned at the time of publication.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune told reporters on July 23 the Protect College Sports Act isn't likely to reach the floor before the current session ends in two weeks. The bipartisan bill was introduced in May by Sens. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) and Ted Cruz (R-Texas), and would establish requirements for NIL agreements and limited antitrust exemptions for schools when selling media rights.
A collective bargaining agreement is still far away from coming to college sports, which still has numerous decisions to make amid the new era of athletics. It's a potentially important first step for student-athletes, though, with the formation of Stanford's CFBPA chapter.
"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," Cooper said.
This story will be updated.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Stanford football creates first player-led chapter in players association
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