SEC AD says the only way forward for college athletics is collective bargaining

If you’re a fan of college athletics—especially here in the heart of Big Blue Nation—you’ve probably felt the ground shifting under your feet. And now, Tennessee athletic director Danny White just confirmed what many feared and others suspected:

“Collective bargaining… is the only solution.”

That’s not just a hot take. That’s a full-on detonation of the NCAA’s traditional model.

White, alongside University of Tennessee Chancellor Donde Plowman, is sounding the alarm as the House v. NCAA settlement barrels toward final approval. And if their words prove prophetic, college sports could be on the verge of becoming something unrecognizable.

Let’s break down what’s going on—and why it could matter as much to Kentucky basketball fans as the Final Four itself.

What is collective bargaining, anyway?

Think labor union.

Collective bargaining is when a group of workers—usually through a union—negotiate with their employer as a group. The goal? Better pay, better benefits, and better treatment.

Instead of every athlete trying to secure their own NIL deal or fight for medical care alone, they’d have unified representation. It’s how teachers, factory workers, and professional athletes hammer out contracts.

So what White is really saying is this:

Let’s make the NCAA the employer. Let’s make athletes employees. Let’s negotiate a binding contract for everyone.

That’s a seismic shift.

Why now? House v. NCAA and the $2.8 Billion ticking time bomb

The call for collective bargaining comes just as the NCAA prepares to settle three landmark lawsuits—House, Hubbard, and Carter v. NCAA—in a deal worth $2.8 billion over 10 years. That deal would compensate past athletes denied NIL revenue and let schools share up to 22% of their annual revenue—around $20-22 million per school—with current players.

That sounds like a win, right?

Well, not exactly.

Critics say the deal:

• Imposes a salary cap that could be illegal.
• Fails to protect women’s sports or non-revenue athletes.
• Limits fair-market NIL deals via a new regulatory clearinghouse.
• Reduces scholarship opportunities, replacing them with “roster limits.”
• Was negotiated without direct athlete input.
• Favors big schools.

Even if U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken signs off—which appears likely—the lawsuits won’t stop. Lawyers are lining up for more already before it even becomes official. The Department of Justice is watching. And no one knows where the new rules will land.

White’s message is clear: This patchwork system is broken. Let’s build a new one.

But collective bargaining isn’t simple folks.

Turning college sports into a unionized labor force brings its own massive complications, including:

• Who’s in the union? Just football and basketball players? Or every athlete, from gymnastics to golf?
• Are athletes now employees? If so, what about their scholarships, taxes, and transfer freedom?
• Title IX nightmares. Equal pay under employment laws could spark lawsuits from every corner.
• School-by-school chaos. Will Kentucky negotiate a different deal than Florida or Alabama?
• Who represents the athletes? NIL collectives? New unions? The NCAA’s not exactly trusted here.
• And what happens if an athlete goes on strike before the NCAA Tournament?

The potential for chaos is real—but so is the potential for progress.

What it means for Kentucky and the SEC

Kentucky has always operated like a blue-blood NBA franchise in March and a southern football school in October. But with revenue-sharing, NIL regulations, and employment classifications in play, schools like UK may have to rethink everything about how they build rosters, fund Olympic sports even more, and even recruit.

Mark Pope’s Wildcats may benefit from a clearer, more structured compensation model—especially as ticket sales and TV money continue to grow. But it could also limit flexibility and bring unexpected legal challenges to Rupp Arena’s doorstep.

So what say you, BBN?

Do you want college sports to work like the pros?
Do you trust the NCAA, or anyone, to enforce a fair system for everyone?
Or is collective bargaining—the kind Danny White is calling for—the only real path forward?

We’re entering a new era of college athletics. The question is no longer if change is coming—but how much, and how fast.

And for once, Kentucky might not be able to dribble past the politics after all. Interesting times indeed.

Oklahoma State’s men’s golf team posted a 5-over 293 during the first day of play at the NCAA Championship on Friday to stand in a tie for 14th place at the Omni La Costa Resort and Spa.

The second-ranked Cowboys finished the day in a five-way tie for their positioning at the par-72, 7,480-yard layout. OSU will begin its second round four shots outside of the top 10.

Sophomore Preston Stout led the way for OSU individually, posting a 1-under 71 to come in tied for 25th place. Starting on the back nine, Stout bogeyed two of his first five holes before carding birdies at the 15th and 18th to get back to even for the day. He would sandwich a bogey at the third with birdies at the second and fourth to stand at 1-under for the day with five to play.

Stout posted his fifth birdie of the day at the sixth before carding a bogey at the seventh on his way to a 1-under 35 on his second nine of the day.

Sophomore Ethan Fang also posted five birdies during his round before ultimately signing for a 1-over 73 to share 47th place.

Sophomore Eric Lee’s 74 tied him for 63rd place.

Freshman Filip Fahlberg-Johnsson and sophomore Gaven Lane each signed for 3-over 75s to finish the day tied for 79th place.

OSU will begin its second round tomorrow at 8:30 a.m. (CST) and will be grouped with Auburn and Ole Miss. Live scoring is available at scoreboard.clippd.com.

SVG College Summit 2025 is fast approaching and attendees will enjoy the opportunity to browse an exhibit hall loaded with the latest sports-specific production gear aimed directly at the needs of collegiate athletics video content creators.

In the days leading up to the Summit, SVG is highlighting the Technology Exhibits on display at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Atlanta on May 28-29. Support our sponsors and visit the SVG College Summit Technology Showcases on Wednesday, May 28 from 2:00 – 7:00 p.m. and Thursday, May 29 from 8:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.

CLICK HERE TO SEE THE FULL EXHIBITOR LIST

Kokusai Denki

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KOKUSAI DENKI has been manufacturing Broadcast Cameras under the Hitachi Brand for 60+ years. We are very excited to have rebranded our division back to our original name of KOKUSAI DENKI. Offering the “Best Price to Performance” in broadcast camera technology remains the same for many years to come.

Lawo

BOOTH #112

Lawo is a global technology partner with a long history of delivering innovative solutions for live media production workflows. Visit us at Stand 112 to discover how the agility of HOME Apps can benefit your facility. And don’t miss our case study about the University of Nebraska’s road to IP!

LiveU

BOOTH #204

Take your athletics coverage to the next level and stream every sport. LiveU revolutionizes how athletics departments in schools of any size produce and distribute live content. No more cabling cameras, dealing with small press boxes, fibering venues or worrying about bandwidth limitations. Start offering your coaches and athletics departments the ability to stream every sport, wherever it is using our Lightweight Sports Production solution.

Lumen

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Lumen Vyvx Broadcast Solutions power the world’s top media companies with seamless video services. From live sports to nonstop news, our comprehensive video transport solutions ensure flawless delivery, leveraging our cutting-edge fiber backbone and global edge network. Experience the future of broadcasting with Lumen Vyvx!

Mobile TV Group

BOOTH #316

Mobile TV Group is the most innovative live production facility designer, builder, and provider in the U.S., with a strong focus on technology and engineering. We now offer the Edge series, a turnkey software and cloud based production solution to fulfill all of your production needs and requirements.

MyCaseBuilder

BOOTH #221

MyCaseBuilder creates high-quality custom foam inserts for hard cases and hundreds of other needs, with exceptional customer service at every step. You can design your foam with our easy online desktop app or rely on our ProDesign team. From single cases to large orders, we’re here to deliver precision and care. Custom foam perfected.

Riedel Communications

BOOTH #210

Riedel Communications designs, manufactures, and distributes pioneering real-time video, audio, data, and communications networks for broadcast, pro audio, event, sports, theater, and security applications. The company also provides rental services for radio and intercom systems, event IT solutions, fiber backbones, and wireless signal transmission systems that scale easily for events of any size, anywhere in the world. Riedel is headquartered in Wuppertal, Germany and employs over 1000 people in 30 locations throughout Europe, Australia, Asia, and the Americas.

Sony

BOOTH #214

About Sony Electronics’ Imaging Products and Solutions – Americas Sony offers legendary imaging tools ranging from Alpha full-frame to their award-winning Cinema Line, PTZ and Super 35mm System Cameras with global shutter, giving creators the ultimate in versatility and flexibility to help them create their storytelling through new and creative ways and from unique vantage points.

Tata Communications Media

BOOTH #110

Tata Communications Media are demonstrating our college ecosystem based live production, fan engagement, MAM and playout solutions to save money, create better workflows and generate more revenue.

Telestream

BOOTH #211

For nearly thirty years, Telestream has been at the forefront of innovation in the digital video industry. The company develops products for media processing and workflow orchestration, live capture, production, live streaming, video quality assurance, virtual events and video hosting, content management and video and audio test solutions.

Teradek

BOOTH #320

Teradek, a Videndum plc brand, designs and manufactures high-performance, award-winning video solutions for live situational awareness and broadcast production. From wireless video transmission and live video contribution, to SaaS solutions for interagency collaboration, Teradek technology is used around the world to securely capture and distribute ultra-low latency video for mission-critical applications.

The Studio – B&H

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Vislink

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Vislink is a global leader in live video and data communication technology – delivering reliable, secure transmissions. Specializing in premium RF and 5G transmitters and receivers, wireless live video broadcast encoders and decoders, and AI technology to provide cutting-edge solutions for seamless video transmission and reception. Trusted by defense, public safety, and broadcasters worldwide, Vislink technology is relied upon to provide business and mission critical live video at the point of need.

Vizrt

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Vizrt is the leader in real-time graphics and live production solutions for content creators. With 25 years of innovation across news, sports, entertainment, and beyond, Vizrt has reshaped how video is created and shared. Enabling more stories, better told—with craft, vision, and powerful tools trusted by the world’s top media brands.

VOGO

BOOTH #306

VOGO NA is pleased to sponsor and exhibit at the SVG College Summit. Visit Booth 306 to see VOKKERO’s trusted officiating audio systems and VOGO’s innovative, cost-effective video review solutions used by NCAA and FIFA. Together, they deliver reliable, conference-ready communication and replay technology. For more info, visit www.vogo-group.com or contact Bob D’Ostilio at [email protected] or 203-271-2885.

Wave Central

BOOTH #217

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For more on the SVG College Summit, visit the event’s website.

Hamilton College goalie Jack Fried ’25 (Larchmont, N.Y./Mamaroneck HS) was selected for the 2025 U.S. Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (USILA) Division III Men’s Senior All-Star Game North roster on Thursday, May 22 when the USILA announced the game’s rosters.

The game is scheduled for Friday, May 23 at Roger Williams University in Bristol, R.I., and starts at 4 p.m.

Fried was one of two goalies on the North roster. He was a USILA honorable mention all-American and all-NESCAC first team honoree in 2025. Fried finished the season with a 10.98 goals against average, a .543 save percentage and 175 saves in 14 starts. He ended up with exactly 500 career saves — just the fifth goalie in Hamilton men’s lacrosse history to reach the milestone.

 

WILKES-BARRE — The United Way of Wyoming Valley’s 32nd Annual Day of Caring got underway on Thursday with a breakfast program at The Woodlands Inn. It was a rainy spring day, but that did not stop the 650 volunteers from getting work done.

It may have been 32 years of caring for the United Way, but it was the first year under the helm of new President/CEO Sara Peperno, who was not deterred by the rain.

“We were anticipating a beautiful day that was sunny and would be a good day for outdoor projects, but unfortunately, the weather wasn’t on our side,” Peperno said. “We had to move some projects that were exclusively planned for outdoors to some indoor projects.”

The Annual Day of Caring technically wasn’t Peperno’s first — she was employed for 12 years at United Way before leaving to head Northeast Sight Services, Exeter. She returned the United Way just two months ago.

After breakfast, volunteers from 54 local businesses began working at 50 local nonprofit, charitable, and community organizations throughout the Wyoming Valley.

One such project was Sleep in Heavenly Peace, an national organization with a local chapter in Wyoming Valley, had over 85 volunteers producing wooden-framed beds at Diamond Manufacturing, Wyoming.

A huge tent was set up for volunteers to systematically manufactured twin beds through the process of a well-organized production line.

According to Denise Ogurkis, Sleep in Heavenly Peace president, the organization has been doing monthly bed builds since 2019 throughout Wyoming Valley.

“We have about 85 volunteers here at Diamond Manufacturing with more coming,” Ogurkis said. “We are planning on producing 100 beds to children from Luzerne County for children from ages of three to 17 who sleep on the floor, which is hard to believe, but we have a backlog of 758 beds needed.”

A food tent was also set up at Diamond Manufacturing where breakfast foods were served through Sleep in Heavenly Peace and Diamond Manufacturing provided lunch for all the volunteers.

Ogurkis said Diamond’s monetary donation was used to purchase lumber and other building materials to manufacture the beds.

Volunteers and financial donations are always welcome for bed builds by going to https://shpbeds.org/contact-us and selecting the PA-Luzerne chapter. At this page you can inquire about volunteering, sponsoring a build or request beds for children.

Volunteers from Berkshire Hathaway GUARD Insurance Companies, Wilkes-Barre, were busy at Northeast Sight Services, Exeter, cleaning the property after a long winter by replacing mulch, clearing dead branches or bushes.

In addition to outside work for volunteers, Amy Feldman, Northeast Sight Services executive director, had indoor projects to be completed.

Awards

During the morning breakfast at The Woodlands Inn, Peperno said awards were presented to individuals and companies supporting the United Way:

• Large Corporate Award — Highmark.

• Small Corporate Award — M&T Bank.

• Rose Brader Community Service Award — Paul Hildebrand.

• Sarah & Anthony F. Kane, Jr. Achievement Award — Lindsay Barker.

Students being recognized included:

• Reese Woytowich — Holy Redeemer.

• Abigail Butler — Wyoming Area.

• Mia Altavilla — Wyoming Area.

• Sylvia Bash — Northwest Area.

• Maira Fayette — Wilkes-Barre Area.

• Ifechi “Chi” Ebi-Ekweozoh — Wyoming Seminary.

Peperno said she always enjoyed the Day of Caring as a former employee of United Way and is happy to see in her 12-year absence since returning; the fever for volunteering is still high.

“What’s so great about Day of Caring is, what I saw and what I can see, there is the same momentum and the same level of volunteerism in the community, which is exciting,” Peperno added. “One of the reasons I did go back to United Way is because I think having one organization that can impact so much in the community and bring together so many different people to help so many different things in the community is exciting.”