Most in new survey opposed to college athletes joining unions

More than half of adults are opposed to college athletes joining unions, a new survey found.

Fifty-five percent said they oppose the unionization of college athletes, according to the new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research that was conducted last month.

Democrats were more likely to say NCAA athletes should be allowed to unionize, with 56 percent saying so, compared to only 23 percent of Republicans. Younger adults were also more likely to be support collegiate athlete unions, with 58 percent of those aged 19 to 44 saying they should be allowed, while only 29 percent of those older than 45 supported them.

Fifty-five percent of nonwhite adults supported the unionization of college athletes, while only 24 percent of white adults backed it.

A majority of adults said colleges and universities with major athletic programs should provide athletes with a share of revenues received from broadcasting rights, with 53 percent supporting the proposal.

Forty-two percent backed colleges providing student-athletes with additional spending money, 38 percent supported giving athletes a salary and 20 percent said they would support exemptions from certain courses student-athletes need to graduate. 

Dartmouth College’s men’s basketball team voted to unionize earlier this month, bringing it one step closer to becoming the first labor union in college sports.

Dartmouth has maintained that the athletes on the basketball team are not employees, saying in a statement earlier this month that it does not believe the union is "appropriate." The school had until Tuesday to file an objection to the union election. After filing objections, both parties will have 10 days to file a request for an appeal to the decision.

The poll was conducted Feb. 22-26 among 1,102 adults and has a margin of error of 4.1 percentage points.