Tennessee Men’s Basketball Players and Athletes.org Propose What a Collective Bargaining Term Sheet Could Look Like

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (Nov. 10, 2026) - Athletes.org (AO) and elected player representatives of the University of Tennessee men’s basketball team released a proposal for a collective bargaining agreement (CBA) term sheet. It provides the model for CBA terms between players and their schools’ respective leagues that can be adapted across college sports. 

The proposed term sheet was developed by the three player representatives, as elected by their teammates, and Athletes.org, the players association for college athletes. It was then taken to athletics leadership for discussion and awareness, including Vice Chancellor and Director of Athletics Danny White.

The document addresses numerous categories such as compensation, health and safety, player movement, offseason commitments, academics and enforcement. It is not a signed agreement or ratified CBA. Rather, it offers the clearest picture to date of the issues a CBA could address, the accountability mechanisms that could protect athletes and an institution, and what athletes can achieve when they have a direct role in deciding the terms of the industry they power.

Tennessee’s men’s basketball team elected graduate student Tyler Lundblade, junior Campbell Duncan and sophomore DeWayne Brown II as player representatives. Over months of meetings with AO, the three player representatives discussed all term sheet categories that impact their experience as college athletes, debated positions on each, and eventually arrived at outcomes they wanted AO to bring to leadership on behalf of their team.

AO and the athletes brought those positions to athletics leadership, where multiple rounds of discussion ensued. Administrators then debated the proposals, highlighted their own concerns, raised operational questions and, in several areas, embraced ideas they had not previously considered. On Sept. 30, the representatives met with their teammates to review the proposed term sheet in detail.



“Since the inception of AO, we’ve said athletes deserve a seat at the table. Now Tennessee’s players have shown the world what that looks like,” said AO Executive Director Brandon Copeland. “Tyler, Campbell and DeWayne didn’t rubber-stamp someone else’s plan. They educated us about what college athletes are experiencing, debated perspectives amongst themselves, challenged the university’s positions and revised the document until they reached terms they could understand, support and be excited about. This CBA term sheet shows that with athletes at the table, everyone in college sports can win. If we repeated this process with every Power Four university today, we could solve most of college sports’ problems by tomorrow afternoon.”

“We take a lot of pride in being extremely athlete-centric, and listening to our players’ interests through Athletes.org has shown that sharing perspectives through meaningful dialogue isn't something to be afraid of,” said Danny White, Vice Chancellor/Director of Athletics at the University of Tennessee. “Collective bargaining is a proven model that works across all of professional sports and, through Athletes.org, athletes can help create a healthy, durable solution for the future of college athletics.”

This proposed term sheet points to that proven model: enforceable agreements negotiated under current law, including at public universities in right-to-work states. The terms are shaped by the athletes who play the game and the athletics leaders responsible for protecting and growing it. 

This proposed term sheet is specific to Tennessee men’s basketball, but it can be adapted for other sports and conferences, such as SEC men’s basketball, football, women’s basketball and Olympic sports. AO has also begun this exercise with Tennessee football player representatives. Because the football team is in season, a football-specific version will follow on a separate timeline. 

In December 2025, AO published the first comprehensive collective bargaining framework in college sports. Building on that framework and the work in Tennessee with the proposed CBA term sheet, AO invites athletes and teams at other institutions to reach out to learn how to organize and begin the process at their own schools.

From the Tennessee Men’s Basketball Player Reps: 

“Working with Athletes.org to create a CBA term sheet has shown us what's possible. College athletes are mature enough to bring in billions of dollars of revenue every year; we're also mature enough to sit at the table, negotiate for ourselves, and come to an agreement on a CBA that works for both us and college sports.”

-Tyler Lundblade

“We operate like professionals in every facet of our lives: from our schedules and practices to how we handle our business. Having a players association and a CBA solidifies our seat at the table, empowering us to negotiate our working conditions, protect our rights, establish benefits for during and after our playing days and ensure our voices are heard as decisions are made about our livelihoods.”

-Campbell Duncan

“Some people say we’re kids, that we’re immature or that we don’t understand. But we’re the ones living this experience, and our opinions matter. We know what we want and how we want to move forward. Working through the collective bargaining process has been great and I hope it's just a stepping stone for more college athletes to replicate our process with their own schools.”

-DeWayne Brown II

What’s in the proposed CBA Term Sheet: 

• One contract, paid for playing: A Universal Athletic Services Agreement replaces patchwork revenue-share and university-affiliated NIL deals. Players are paid for their athletic services, not for influencer deliverables.

• Pay begins when the work begins: Payments begin at enrollment or first team activity, whichever comes first, with financial consequences for any school that backs out of a signed commitment.

• A spending floor, not just a ceiling: A bargained salary cap paired with a required spending floor, guaranteed minimum compensation for every rostered player, full cost of attendance and a freshman pay scale.

• Monetary incentives for winning and for staying: Postseason revenue pools sharing that sits separate from the cap, plus a player performance bonus pool to incentivize actual play time and a veteran performance bonus pool for athletes who stay, and play, at the same university for at least two years.

• Guaranteed compensation if injured: Athletes on injured reserve keep 100% of guaranteed compensation for the contract year and keep their scholarships. All athletes receive access to a second medical opinion at no cost to the athlete.

• Health coverage beyond the final buzzer: At least two years of post-eligibility medical coverage for athletics-related injuries, five years for athletes who reach veteran status and lifetime coverage for catastrophic injuries.

• Independent mental health care: Confidential access to providers who operate outside the athletics chain of command, with retaliation prohibited.

• Players gain control of their time: All athletic activities will be defined, tracked and managed with limits.

• Mutually agreed-upon Transfer Portal rules: A 15-day window that opens at least one week after the national championship, enforceable anti-tampering rules and a five-year eligibility clock.

• Teeth in enforcement: A jointly designed anti-circumvention system with penalties for schools that reach up to 100% of a conference payout for repeat offenses.

• An independent, jointly agreed upon arbitration process: A formal, independent grievance process with binding decisions from an independent neutral arbitrator.

• A degree on the athlete’s terms: If sport obligations force a player off of his intended major that he can qualify for academically, the university will fund degree completion for up to 10 years after his final season.

• Agent transparency: All agents will be certified and have a 5% cap on agency fees for athletic services agreements. No caps on third-party NIL agreements not governed by the CBA.

A summary of this proposed term sheet is available at athletes.org/termsheet