CHICAGO — In a decision that has the potential to fundamentally reshape the NCAA and college athletics, a National Labor Relations Board regional director sided with a group of Northwestern University football players Wednesday, calling them employees who have the right to collectively bargain.

In a 24-page decision, Peter Ohr wrote that Northwestern is an employer and all of its scholarship football players are eligible to unionize.

“The players won on every question,” said Tim Waters, the political director for the United Steelworkers, which has worked for more than a decade on rights for college athletes. “It’s a huge victory.”

In January, Northwestern players filed a petition to the regional office of the NLRB seeking representation by the newly formed College Athletes Players Association.

Last month, lawyers for the labor organization and Northwestern argued whether the players were employees or just students in a hearing that spanned three weeks.

A Northwestern spokesman, Alan K. Cubbage, said in a statement that the university was “disappointed” in Wednesday’s decision and that it would appeal it to the full NLRB in Washington.

The NCAA was not a party to the labor proceeding but is facing several lawsuits related to player remuneration and health issues. In a statement, the NCAA said it was “disappointed” with the ruling.

“We strongly disagree with the notion that student-athletes are employees,” Donald Remy, the NCAA’s chief legal officer, wrote in the statement.

The College Athletes Players Association hailed the ruling as “historic” and “a major step toward justice,” saying it sets a path for other football and basketball players at private Division I universities to form unions.

“The courageous, enlightened young men on the Northwestern football team are demonstrating what can be accomplished when college athletes are unified,” said Ramogi Huma, the association’s president and a former UCLA football player. “Their actions will improve the lives of the current and future generations of college athletes.”