Skip to main content
Join Now
Team Avatar
Tennessee

Tennessee AD Danny White: Collective bargaining is 'only solution' for college sports amid NIL issues

by: Alex Byington05/22/25_AlexByington
Danny White, Tennessee Athletic Director | Andrew Nelles / The Tennessean / USA TODAY NETWORK
(Andrew Nelles / The Tennessean / USA TODAY NETWORK) University of Tennessee athletics director Danny White speaks during the Big Orange Caravan event at Marathon Music Works in Nashville, Tenn., Tuesday, April 30, 2024.

Amid all the discussion about the future of college sports in the wake of the pending landmark House v. NCAA settlement, the lone resolution that no one in authority wants to touch is collective bargaining. Or, in simpler terms, designating collegiate student-athletes as employees, which would allow them to unionize and then establish a collective bargaining agreement with the NCAA and/or another joint body like the recently proposed “College Sports Commission.“

Well, all except Tennessee athletic director Danny White. He became one of the first Power Four ADs to formally jump on that particular third rail.

During a brief video discussion with University of Tennessee chancellor Donde Plowman that she posted to her personal X/Twitter account, White didn’t mince words about how college sports can address its issues in the day and age of NIL and the NCAA Transfer Portal. He says it’s time to make employees of student-athletes and then work out a CBA with them.

“It’s a real issue, we could go on and on about what we need,” White said. “But I’ll say it, we’ve got a camera on us (but) I don’t really care at this point: collective bargaining is the only solution.”

Report: NCAA to cede enforcement to new organization if House settlement receives approval

With a decision expected in the near future, college athletics continues to prepare for the House v. NCAA settlement. If Judge Claudia Wilken gives final approval, it would also lead to major changes in enforcement.

The NCAA would no longer be in charge of enforcement, ESPN’s Pete Thamel reported. Instead, a CEO of a new enforcement organization, the College Sports Commission, would be in charge of handing out punishments and deciding on whether rules have been violated.

The new CEO is expected to be from outside college athletics, according to ESPN. The expectation is that a hire would come soon after the House v. NCAA settlement is finalized.

Yahoo! Sports reported the potential for enforcement changes in February as the House settlement approval process continued. ESPN added that a board is expected to be in place to which the CEO will report.

“All the institutions are going to have new membership agreements that we’re all agreeing to these new rules,” an industry source told ESPN. “The CEO is going to have responsibility to make sure everything is enforced and the governance model is sound. It’s a critically important role for the future of college sports and college football.”

— On3’s Nick Schultz contributed to this report.