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

Pasquel may not have ended segregation or overturned the reserve clause, but he certainly hastened the demise of both.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 7, 2022

When a federal court ordered a jury trial to investigate baseball’s labor practices, the owners quickly realized the reserve clause likely would be overturned, potentially costing them millions in salary.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 7, 2022

He also oversaw the undermining of the reserve clause, which allowed teams to control players in perpetuity — a process that wasn’t always linear.

From Washington Post • Sep. 8, 2021

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

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