In what could end up being the first victory in the new college football landscape, Northwestern won their case to form a union before the National Labor Relations Board.

The Entire Lawsuit Can Be Seen Here

With this victory the student athletes have the right to collective bargaining and the right to form a union. Northwestern University will appeal the ruling, but this a major win for college athletes. The ruling only applies to private universities, and state university athletes have to apply to their state's labor board for the right to unionize. Chris Johnson of Sports Illustrated listed the five points lawyers about on why Northwestern athletes should be considered employees.

Potential NCAA Killing Lawsuit Filed

“Football players at Northwestern are compensated for a service (i.e. football) with athletics-based grants-in-aid, or scholarships; they have supervisors (i.e. coaches) who control their schedules and monitor what they say on social media; they must abide by certain rules and regulations, and are held to different standards than other students; they can have their compensation taken away (i.e. have their scholarship revoked) for violating those rules and lose their jobs (i.e. their spots in the lineup) if they skip practices or games; and they have a contract (i.e. an athletic tender agreement) that stipulates what they must do to maintain their scholarship.”

The athletes of NU are looking for “guaranteed coverage for injuries during sanctioned competition,” as well as a type of “trust fund” that will help athletes that want to further their education by forgoing the NFL. Needless to say this is a huge win for college athletes and could be one of many starts to college players getting game checks.

Do you think the NCAA will be destroyed? Should college athletes be paid? Tell us @SportsWN