In December 2025, Athletes.org published college sports' first-ever comprehensive collective bargaining framework, shaped by input from thousands of our college athlete members and feedback from administrators, conference commissioners and athletic directors nationwide. 

Now, for the first time, a college team has taken the next massive steps forward: organized itself through a players association, elected player representatives, developed their positions on many of the critical terms included in that framework, and collaborated with athletics leadership to develop a collective bargaining term sheet. 

For years, many leaders in college sports have argued that athletes aren’t mature enough, don’t have the time, don’t care about business, and are not interested in collective bargaining. Some leaders also proclaim that collective bargaining in college sports is impossible, while simultaneously advancing their own anti-athlete agendas.

This summer, Tennessee men’s basketball players and their athletics leaders showed that those discussions are, in fact, possible and that doing so will produce the most equitable solution college athletics has ever seen.

Below is the term sheet summary. Among the many items the player reps identified, debated, aligned on, and discussed with athletics leadership:

• A salary cap paired with a spending floor

• Eligibility and transfer rules

• A protected ‘dead’ period that does not require mandatory athletic activities and creates longer windows to spend time with family and pursue other academic and professional opportunities e.g. internships

• An independent grievance process to escalate issues

This is just the start of what is possible. While the term sheet is not a signed agreement or ratified CBA, it is a historic first in college sports. More than a document, it demonstrates what athletes and athletics leaders can accomplish through direct conversation and offers a springboard for deeper conversations across college athletics.

For frequently asked questions, including how collective bargaining can happen in college athletics today under current law, please see the FAQs section below this summary.

Alongside this journey with men’s basketball, AO also met with the Tennessee football team, who went through the same process to learn about players associations, and privately voted to have AO represent them. While many perspectives pertaining to their sport have been developed by the team’s elected player reps, we have put this work on hold until the conclusion of the football season.

AO was created to represent all DI athletes and will continue advancing this work across sports and schools in the months ahead.

This is just the beginning.