The reserve clause is a term formerly employed in North American professional sports contracts. The reserve clause, contained in all standard player contracts, stated that, upon the contract's expiration the rights to the player were to be retained by the team to which he had been signed. Practically, this meant that although both the player's obligation to play for the team as well as the team's obligation to pay the player were terminated, the player was not free to enter into another contract with another team. The player was bound to either (A) negotiate a new contract to play another year for the same team or (B) ask to be released or traded.
Once common in sports, the clause was abolished in baseball in 1975, and other sports soon followed. The reserve clause system has, for the most part, been replaced by free agency.
Read more about Reserve Clause: History and Baseball, NFL, NBA, NHL
Famous quotes containing the words reserve and/or clause:
“Her face had the seamed reserve of the old in this country [Japan]. It was a neighborhood poignantly rich in old ladies.”
—Angela Carter (1940–1992)
“Long ago I added to the true old adage of “What is everybody’s business is nobody’s business,” another clause which, I think, more than any other principle has served to influence my actions in life. That is, What is nobody’s business is my business.”
—Clara Barton (1821–1912)