The union representing the Dartmouth men’s basketball team requested Tuesday to withdraw the team’s petition to the National Labor Relations Board to unionize. The timing — the final hours of 2024 — was fitting in that the decision reflects what may lie ahead for the college sports labor movement.

The union that won the nation’s first representation election for a college sports team has withdrawn its federal labor board case to make Dartmouth University recognize the union for its men’s basketball team.

The Associated Press reports that the local Service Employees International Union Local 560 chapter requested to withdraw the team’s petition Tuesday anticipating a Republican controlled National Labor Relations Board in the coming year.

A union on Tuesday moved to withdraw its novel bid to represent the Dartmouth College men's basketball team, a move likely calculated to avoid unfavorable rulings by President-elect Donald Trump's appointees to the National Labor Relations Board.

Dartmouth College's men's basketball team is opting to withdraw its historic union petition ahead of a possible challenge from President-elect Donald Trump's administration, according to a report. The players voted 13-2 in March to join a union in what was an unprecedented move that threatened to upend the multi-billion-dollar industry of college

Dartmouth disagreed with that opinion and refused to bargain with the team until the five-member NLRB ruled on the issue. Currently, the five-member panel has two vacancies, so incoming President Donald Trump could quickly reshape the board.