and even then, it's not guaranteed. A salary cap is per se illegal under antitrust law unless: -athletes are legally recognized as employees AND -athletes unionize AND -the union agrees to a collectively bargained cap Without all three, a salary cap is just horizontal collusion—the exact thing the NCAA keeps losing in court. Also, schools fear employee status because it triggers: workers’ comp unemployment insurance payroll taxes FLSA wage/hour rules Title IX compensation parity - HUGE liability for workplace injuries - HUGE bargaining obligations grievance procedures arbitration wrongful termination claims - HUGE Schools want cost control, not employment law. Employee status gives them one and saddles them with the other. Also, the NFL/NBA model only works because the entire league bargains as one unit. College sports are structurally incapable of that. Even if athletes unionize, the bargaining unit would likely be: football-only, or school-by-school, or conference-by-conference If bargaining becomes fragmented, salary caps become inconsistent, unenforceable, legally vulnerable and strategically pointless.