An organizer with the United Steelworkers says players from other universities have expressed interest in forming unions in the wake of the landmark decision last week involving the Northwestern football team.

Tim Waters of the steelworkers would not disclose the players or their universities. But he says they reached out following the decision last week by a regional director of the National Labor Relations Board declaring Northwestern’s players are university employees who have the right to form a union.

A member of Wisconsin’s Final Four basketball team says participated in weekly conference calls in recent months with the union and Ramogi Huma, head of the National College Players Association. The NCPA and the steelworkers’ union are working together on the union push.

CHICAGO (AP) — Around the country Thursday, college coaches and administrators pondered the potential ramifications of the decision by the National Labor Relations Board to allow the Northwestern football team to unionize.

The ruling stated NCAA student-athletes are actually university employees in everything but name.

Therefore, they should be able to bargain collectively for their fair share of an industry worth billions.

That set off speculation over what might happen if the ruling holds up on appeal.

Former Georgia football coach and athletic director Vince Dooley is among those flummoxed by how this might affect college sports.

Dooley says “the issues would be unlimited. What might happen from school to school, from day to day, from year to year, I don’t know. I’m just glad I’ve served my time.”

CHICAGO (AP) — The NCAA says it’s “disappointed” by a federal agency’s ruling that Northwestern University football players can form the nation’s first college athletes’ union.

The organization issued a statement on its website after Wednesday’s landmark ruling by a regional director of National Labor Relations Board that players are deemed employees under federal law.

The statement says that the NCAA strongly disagrees that student-athletes are employees. It also says student-athletes play “for the love of their sport, not to be paid.”

Union lawyers argued the Big Ten school’s football players are part of a commercial enterprise that generates hefty profits through their labor.

They also likened scholarships to employment pay, while Northwestern described scholarship as grants.

The NCAA says improvements are needed, but there is no need to abandon the current system.

CHICAGO (AP) — Northwestern University says it disagrees with the decision from a federal agency that found that the school’s football players qualify as employees, and can create the nation’s first union of college athletes.

The university, based in Evanston, Illinois, says it will appeal to labor authorities in Washington. The school has argued that college athletes, as students, don’t fit into the same category as factory workers, truck drivers and other unionized workers.

A regional director of the National Labor Relations Board, Peter Sung Ohr, found that the players “fall squarely within” the definition of “employee” under federal labor law.

An employee is generally regarded by law as someone who gets compensation for a service and is under the direct control of managers. Players argued that their scholarships are compensation, and that their coaches are their managers.

The College Athletes Players Association, which would take the lead in organizing the players, wants guaranteed coverage of sports-related medical expenses for current and former players. It also wants better procedures to reduce head injuries. Other goals include potentially letting players pursue commercial sponsorships.

But critics say letting players unionize could raise the prospects of strikes by disgruntled players, or lockouts by athletic departments.

For now, the push is on to unionize athletes at private schools such as Northwestern. The federal agency doesn’t have jurisdiction over public universities.

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CHICAGO (AP) — In a ruling that could revolutionize college sports, a federal agency has given football players at Northwestern University the green light to unionize.

Wednesday’s landmark ruling by a regional director of National Labor Relations Board means the players are deemed employees under federal law and so can create the nation’s first college athletes’ union.

Union lawyers argued the Big Ten school’s football players are part of a commercial enterprise that generates hefty profits through their labor.

The NCAA, Big Ten Conference and the private school vehemently opposed the union drive. Northwestern argued that college athletes are students and can’t be put in the same category as factory workers.

The ruling in Chicago by director Peter Ohr can be appealed to the agency’s headquarters in Washington, D.C.