The decision to withdraw the petition appeared to be an effort to preserve a favorable federal ruling that could have been in jeopardy under President-elect Donald J. Trump.

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.

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 Dartmouth players petitioned the NLRB in 2023 to be allowed to unionize, saying the New Hampshire school exercised so much control over their schedules and working conditions

The Dartmouth men's basketball team dropped its attempt to form a union on Tuesday, voluntarily ending a push to become the first college sports team to unionize in order to avoid a potentially damaging precedent from a National Labor Relations Board that soon will be controlled by Republicans.

Dartmouth College’s men’s basketball team is halting efforts to unionize, withdrawing an effort before a labor board with appointees named by President-elect Trump might consider it. “While our strategy is shifting,