NLRB gives Northwestern football players right to tweet

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 3:04 p.m. ET

foxsports

In another step toward redefining the amateur status of college athletes, Northwestern has agreed to drop social media restrictions placed on football players after the National Labor Relations Board decided those rules were unlawful.

The ruling affects all 17 private schools such as Stanford, Miami and Notre Dame that compete in the highest level of Division I college football. ESPN, using a Freedom of Information Act request to the NLRB, first reported Tuesday the ruling that was handed down in September.

A group of former Northwestern players, led by an advocacy group for college athletes, failed in its attempt to gain the right to unionize from the NLRB. The board's decision did acknowledge the players should be treated as employees, leaving the door open for this decision.