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.

The Dartmouth men’s basketball team is dropping its attempt to form a union. The team is 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.

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.