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.

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Etymology

Origin of reserve clause

First recorded in 1940–45

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

reserve clause

She married and divorced actor Don Mitchell and later married baseball legend Curt Flood, who took a stand against baseball’s reserve clause and died in 1997.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 16, 2026

Moss pointed to Hunter’s Yankees contract as proof that in an open market players would make far more than they did with the reserve clause in effect.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 25, 2024

When Curt Flood first challenged the reserve clause, owners fought for it all the way to the Supreme Court — and won.

From Washington Post ● Mar. 2, 2022

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

The reserve clause in contracts was the direct cause of that struggle.

From The Scrap Book, Volume 1, No. 5 July 1906 by Various