A Letter to College Athletes

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College Athletes,

You may already know but in case you missed it, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) determined that Dartmouth Men's Basketball players are employees of the school and can vote to unionize (Click here to learn what this actually means). Simultaneously, the NLRB is currently deciding whether or not University of Southern California men’s and women’s basketball players and football players should be classified as employees of that school (and potentially the Pac-12 and the NCAA). Alongside this, there are a bunch of pending federal court cases that could result in schools and conferences paying you directly for the effort, time and energy you dedicate to being a great college athlete.

To be blunt - this is a HISTORIC time of monumental change in college athletics. Years from now, the world will look back on this time as the moment that the future of college athletics was decided. And, as a current college athlete, you'll either be able to feel the pride that comes with knowing you affected things for the better or the remorse from knowing you could have done more.

What does all of this mean for you as an athlete? What is your role and where is your power in all of this? It means that in the near future, you will have the opportunity to independently participate in the negotiation and creation of standards and rules that govern your experience as a college athlete and future generations of college athletes who will follow in your footsteps.

Simply put, you have two choices. You can take this chance of a lifetime to play a role in deciding what the future of your sport and the future of college athletics will look like. Or you can let others, such as athletic directors, conference commissioners, school presidents and the NCAA decide all of that for you.

One thing I have learned in life and during my ten years in the NFL - outside of your parents and immediate family, no one wants what’s best for YOU, more than…YOU. So this is a fight you can’t afford to sit out of and watch others handle for you. There is too much at stake. For some athletes, this will include negotiating for increases in the standards of support and care that you receive from your school. For others, this will include negotiating for your fair share of the revenue you help generate for your school, your conference and the NCAA. It will also include negotiating on other topics like medical benefits and how many hours you spend practicing per week.

But to be able to negotiate any of these things, you have to organize with other college athletes into a players’ association. For over a century, the NCAA has represented the interests of its members, the schools. And NOW is the time for you to be a part of your own organization that represents your interests, and your interests only, as a college athlete.

Athletes.org (AO) organizes all college athletes into smaller groups called Chapters based on your sport and conference. We call these AO Chapters. For example, amongst others, we already have AO Chapters for Big East Men’s Basketball, Big East Women’s Basketball and ACC Men’s Basketball and ACC Women’s Basketball. These AO Chapters allow you as a member athlete to discuss, vote, and establish your own stance on key issues relevant to the athletes in each specific AO Chapter. This is crucial because, although we are all athletes and on paper, the same - the issues we face at different schools and in different conferences are just that - different; and these need to be addressed as such.

In addition to creating the infrastructure to allow for this organizing, AO Chapters are supported by AO's Board of Directors (BoD) and the AO Team. The BoD is made up of a wide range of people who genuinely believe in you, your success and want to see the most equitable future for college athletes. They provide invaluable perspectives that inform and counsel AO’s Team and Chapters on the key issues. These Board Members include executives from pro unions such as the NFLPA and NBPA, college sports attorneys, media executives, former professional athletes, athlete talent agency executives, former conference commissioners, former Power Conference athletic directors, and former college head coaches. AO’s Team works daily and is made up of former college athletes and led by me, Brandon Copeland (most people call me Cope). I have dedicated my platform to financial empowerment and athlete advocacy. This dynamic team has come together to help you and all college athletes win in all aspects of life! Together, we work to strengthen the AO membership offering, which is aimed at maximizing your income, amplifying your voice, and supporting you in key decisions. This includes benefits we have already negotiated for you to have access to like free contract review, free second medical opinions, free background checks, and group NIL deals.

As a college athlete, the time to act is now! You cannot afford to wait and allow others to make decisions about you - without you. AO's free membership means that every college athlete has the opportunity to join. I encourage you to sign up (click here) to become an AO member today! After that, please share this letter with all of your teammates and friends at other schools to make sure they are aware of what is happening right now and please encourage them to sign up so that no voice is left unheard. Similar to any championship team - a Players’ Association’s strength comes from the number of strong individuals it has that join together for a unified purpose. We have a team full of winners already and we want you to join this locker room for life today.

We look forward to working with you as a college athlete to build an equitable and sustainable future for college athletics. If you have any questions about AO or anything else related to your experience as a college athlete, you can email me personally bcope@athletes.org.

We Impact Athletes To Impact The World,

Some of our Members

Our Board

For college athletics leaders and supporters who want to stay in the loop on how they can support college athletes + the future of college athletics through AO, please sign up below: