It will take years. This ruling can be appealed and even so only applies to private schools. Then once it gets out of the NLRB, it will go to the courts. We are in a right to work state, so unionizing any of the Georgia teams would be difficult indeed.
That said, the NCAA could probably head some of this off even without paying the players.
1) Better medical during and after their careers, esp addressing concussions.
2) More freedom to go to the NFL. Restricting someone for three years from selling his talents to whomever is willing to pay for it seems almost un-American to me. That rule isn't protecting the players, it's protecting the NCAA and providing the NFL with a free farm system.
3) More freedom to transfer, especially if/when a coach leaves for a better job or just ahead of the NCAA posse.
With everyone getting rich of college football except the players, the only surprising thing is that it took this long. The disappointing thing is that it was probably preventable.
