EXPLAINER: NLRB memo says college athletes are employees

College athletes who make millions for their schools moved one step closer to gaining the rights afforded private sector workers when the top lawyer for the National Labor Relations Board said in a memo they should be treated as employees of the school.

The memo issued on Wednesday by NLRB General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo doesn't immediately change the current dynamic, in which players rake in millions for their schools, conferences and the NCAA in exchange for no more than a scholarship and cost of attendance stipend.

But it lays a potential path for athletes to unionize or otherwise bargain over their working conditions, including pay.

Gabe Feldman, the director of the Tulane Sports Law Program, said the memo is “yet another threat” to the NCAA and its business model.

“All signs point to an increasingly at-risk and fragile system of college athletics,” he said.

Here are some things to know about the NLRB memo:

HOW DID WE GET HERE?

The NLRB guarantees the right of private sector employees to unionize and protects them from unfair labor practices. College athletes have not been covered, because they have not been considered employees of the schools.

The NLRB protects the rights of private sector workers -- but not public ones. College athletes have not been covered because they weren’t considered employees of the schools.

In 2015, members of the Northwestern football team attempted to organize as university employees; ultimately the board turned their efforts aside — not because it disagreed with them, but because creating different rules for public schools and private ones “would not promote stability in labor relations.”

WHAT CHANGED?

For one, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled unanimously this spring that the NCAA cannot limit education-related benefits. Soon after,...