What is the legal effect of the general counsel's opinion?
It is nothing more than the opinion of the current general counsel of the NLRB. Griffin was appointed to the job by President Barack Obama in 2013. His term ends in November. A new general counsel, appointed by President Donald Drumpf, could rewrite and reverse this opinion. That happens rarely but is possible. If the new counsel were to reverse Griffin's opinion, then the Northwestern players would remain employees under the original decision by Ohr, the regional director of the NLRB in Chicago, but players for the other 16 private schools would lose their employee status. The decision on the Northwestern players' rights has already been finalized.