NLRB throws out ruling that said Northwestern athletes could form a union

Northwestern football players get ready for practice at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside campus on Monday. / THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

CHICAGO – The National Labor Relations Board on Monday threw out a historic ruling that gave Northwestern University football players the go-ahead to form the nation’s first college athletes’ union, saying the prospect of union and nonunion teams could throw off the competitive balance in college football.

The decision dismissed a March 2014 decision by a regional NLRB director in Chicago who said that the football players are effectively school employees and entitled to organize. Monday’s decision did not directly address the question of whether the players…