Dive Brief:

• The National Labor Relations Board in Washington, DC, has agreed to review the decision by a regional NLRB director to allow Northwestern University football players to form a union.
• The regional NLRB decision is stayed until the dispute is heard, which means that the results of the student-athletes' union vote scheduled for today will be kept secret until the final decision is made.
• Northwestern, which requested the review, is "pleased" that its concerns will be heard at the national level. 

Dive Insight:

This step was expected — it would have been very unusual for this case not to be aired before the full NRLB, considering the issues involved and the national media attention those issues have received. The main issues include the tax consequences of unionized college athletics, the power of the NCAA over college programs, workers’ compensation, player safety and health care, scholarships as compensation, and Title IX ramifications for gender equality in college athletic programs. This case is expected to play out over several months at the NLRB level, and then it will probably be appealed to the federal courts.