reserve clause

American  

noun

Sports.

1. the clause in the contract of a professional player in some sports that binds the player to a team for a season beyond the expiration of the contract in the event a new contract has not been made meanwhile or the player has not been sent to another team.

---

Etymology

Origin of reserve clause

First recorded in 1940–45

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

reserve clause

Moss became acquainted with outfielder Curt Flood, who challenged the reserve clause in federal court after refusing to report to the Philadelphia Phillies when the St. Louis Cardinals traded him in 1969.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 25, 2024

The 1975 case involved Dodgers pitcher Andy Messersmith and prompted arbitrator Peter Seitz to strike down the reserve clause, the restrictive contract language that had kept players under perpetual team control for nearly 100 years.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 25, 2024

But at the time, the Major Leagues’ reserve clause essentially kept players under a franchise’s control in perpetuity.

From New York Times ● Aug. 18, 2021

And it is incorrect to say that baseball players bargained the reserve clause out of existence.

From Washington Post ● May 7, 2021

Then comes in the reserve clause again: “But he shall have one Tribe for My servant David’s sake, and for Jerusalem’s sake, the city which I have chosen out of all the Tribes of Israel.”

From The Lost Ten Tribes, and 1882 by Wild, Joseph