Players on the men’s badminton team at Conch Shell University, a prestigious east coast Florida school, recently voted to join the Union of College Badminton Players (UCBP). Tuition at Conch Shell is $40,000 per year. Badminton is not revenue producing sport, and in fact it costs the university money each year to fund this sport. The first offer to the union is $55,000 per year – that is each badminton player must pay the university this amount each year for the privilege of playing on the badminton team.

Basketball players at the same university have unionized and are paid $75,000 per year with $40,000 going towards tuition. Conch Shell has high admission standards and most students are in the upper 5% of those taking the SAT. The Supreme Court has ruled based on the Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution that basketball players must meet the same academic qualifications as other entering students. As a result, the basketball program is now losing money since they have not had a winning record in the last five years. The best players go to other schools with lower admission standards, and higher payments to athletes. Conch Shell University is now considering abolishing all of its sports programs. So much for unionization of college sports. >