Dartmouth men's basketball team will hold union vote on March 5

The Dartmouth men’s basketball team has scheduled a March 5 election to determine whether the players will unionize. That would be unprecedented in American college sports. The National Labor Relations Board said the in-person election will take place on the school’s Hanover, New Hampshire, campus. The NCAA has long maintained that the players are “student-athletes.” That term was created to emphasize that their education comes first. But NLRB Regional Director in Boston ruled that the players were effectively employees of the school. That cleared the way for a union election. An NLRB spokeswoman said Dartmouth has until Feb. 20 to appeal the regional director’s finding. The school has said it intends to do so.