(Editor’s note: Sen. Chris Murphy, a Connecticut Democrat, wrote this op-ed to make the case for athlete compensation and collective bargaining rights.)
In retrospect, it seems quaint to think that the 2020-21 college football and basketball seasons wouldn’t be played. Even as COVID-19 spread like wildfire through college campuses, big-time college sports could not be stopped. Even as games got canceled and postponed left and right, college sports could not be stopped. Even when Big Ten and Pac-12 leaders tried to put the health of their athletes first, college sports could not be stopped. The $15 billion industry, and the millions of dollars in profit made by adults off the free labor of students, had to go on.