Two-way contract

Last updated

A two-way contract is a professional sports contract that stipulates that an athlete's salary is dependent upon the league in which the athlete is assigned to play. This is opposed to a one-way contract that would pay the same salary regardless of where the athlete is assigned to play. [1]

Contents

Basketball

Beginning in the 2017–18 season, the National Basketball Association added two-way contracts between NBA teams and their minor league NBA G League affiliates. Through the 2022–23 season, each team could offer two contracts per season to players with fewer than four years of NBA experience; [2] from 2023–24, three such contracts per team are allowed. [3] Unlike in the NHL, these contracts are not offered to every aspiring NBA player, but are intended for players whom a team would like to keep "on retainer" without having to sign to a full-time contract. However, some players drafted during the second-round of an NBA draft can be retained by teams under a two-way contract as an alternative signing method for them. Two-way players are typically considered to be the "16th and 17th men" (and presumably "18th") on a roster. [4]

The two-way contract system benefits young undrafted players who do not want to play professional basketball overseas and want to play in the NBA, as well as those who believe an organizational investment in them is beneficial toward their development. Some player agents have been concerned about this system, because in exchange for guaranteed employment at a higher salary than a typical G League player, two-way players give up the freedom to be called up from the G League by any NBA team, possibly one with intent to sign the player to a 10-day contract, which could eventually lead to a full-time NBA roster spot sooner than with a two-way contract. [5] However, some players who have proven themselves during their time under a two-way contract can then be given a full-scale contract for the rest of the season, though they can require removing another player from the team to maintain the maximum of 15 full roster spots.

Salary changes

Originally, excluding time spent before and after the G League's season, players on two-way contracts could spend up to 45 days per season with their NBA team, with these players being ineligible for the NBA Playoffs. [6] [5] During the 2017–18 season, players earned $75,000 while they were in the G League and roughly up to $204,000 if they spent the maximum 45 days on an NBA roster, increasing yearly up to $92,241 by the 2024–25 season. [7] [8]

However, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, during the subsequent suspension of the 2019–20 NBA season, the league allowed two-way players to become eligible for the 2020 NBA Playoffs within their 2020 NBA Bubble, as part of the effort to avoid any COVID-19 outbreaks spreading among the players. [9]

For the 2020–21 season, which was shortened to 72 games and paired with a truncated 2020–21 NBA G League season, the NBA allowed a significant increase in salary for two-way contracts from an initial $81,955 minimum to an overall salary worth up to $449,155. The amount of time allowed with the NBA team also increased from 45 total days to 50 games. Even this restriction was eventually lifted, permitting two-way players to play the entire regular season and the 2021 NBA Playoffs. Players going over the initial 50-game cap receive a veteran's minimum salary. [10] However, it was ultimately revealed to only be for that playoff stretch, as two-way contracts would return to the 50 game barrier the following season, with no playoff appearances whatsoever for them in the process, barring any last-minute promotions to the regular season roster for them.

Baseball

In baseball, players can receive a split contract. This contract pays the player different salaries based on whether they are in Major League Baseball or Minor League Baseball. [11]

Ice hockey

Two-way contracts are common for professional ice hockey players who aspire to play in the National Hockey League (NHL). [12] [13] Any hockey player entering the NHL for the first time will sign an entry-level, two-way contract with an NHL team stipulating that he will receive a higher salary if assigned to play with the NHL team, but will receive a lower salary if assigned to play for a team in the minor leagues such as the American Hockey League or the ECHL. [14]

Related Research Articles

In professional sports, a salary cap is an agreement or rule that places a limit on the amount of money that a team can spend on players' salaries. It exists as a per-player limit or a total limit for the team's roster, or both. Several sports leagues have implemented salary caps, using them to keep overall costs down, and also to maintain a competitive balance by restricting richer clubs from entrenching dominance by signing many more top players than their rivals. Salary caps can be a major issue in negotiations between league management and players' unions because they limit players' and teams' ability to negotiate higher salaries even if a team is operating at significant profits, and have been the focal point of several strikes by players and lockouts by owners and administrators.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wade Redden</span> Canadian ice hockey player (born 1977)

Wade Redden is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player and a development coach of the Ottawa Senators, with whom he spent the majority of his career in the National Hockey League (NHL), which lasted from 1996 to 2013. He also played for the New York Rangers, St. Louis Blues and Boston Bruins. He played for the Canadian national team internationally seven times, winning two gold medals in the World Junior Championships and one in the World Cup of Hockey. He was a two-time NHL All-Star.

The NBA G League, or simply the G League, is the official minor league organization of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The league was known as the National Basketball Development League (NBDL) from 2001 to 2005, and the NBA Development League from 2005 until 2017. The league started with eight teams until NBA commissioner David Stern announced a plan to expand the NBA D-League to 15 teams and develop it into a true minor league farm system, with each NBA D-League team affiliated with one or more NBA teams in March 2005. At the conclusion of the 2013–14 NBA season, 33% of NBA players had spent time in the NBA D-League, up from 23% in 2011. As of the 2023–24 season, the league consists of 31 teams, 29 of which are either single-affiliated or owned by an NBA team, along with the NBA G League Ignite exhibition team. Within the G League, players have the chance to get a contract from a current NBA team, and can land themselves a spot on an official roster.

A rookie is a person new to an occupation, profession, or hobby. In sports, a rookie is a professional athlete in their first season.

The NHL Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) is the basic contract between the National Hockey League (NHL) and the NHL Players' Association (NHLPA), designed to be arrived at through the typical labour–management negotiations of collective bargaining. On January 6, 2013, an agreement was tentatively reached after a labour dispute cancelled 510 regular season games of the 2012–13 season, and was ratified by the league's Board of Governors on January 9, 2013, as well as by the NHLPA membership three days later on January 12, 2013. As originally signed, the 2013 CBA was a 10-year deal, longest in NHL history, expiring after the 2021–22 season. On July 10, 2020, the NHL and NHLPA announced the extension of the CBA through the 2025–26 NHL season.

The 2004–05 NHL lockout was a labor lockout that resulted in the cancellation of the National Hockey League (NHL) season, which would have been its 88th season of play.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scott Gomez</span> American ice hockey player and coach

Scott Carlos Gomez is an American professional ice hockey coach and former player.

In sports, the practice squad, also called the taxi squad or practice roster, is a group of players signed by a team but not part of their main roster. Frequently used in gridiron football, they serve as extra players during the team's practices, often as part of the scout team by emulating an upcoming opponent's play style. Because the players on the practice squad are familiar with the team's plays and formations, the practice squad serves as a way to develop inexperienced players for promotion to the main roster. This is particularly important for professional gridiron football teams, which do not have formal minor league farm team affiliates to train players. In addition, it provides replacement players for the main roster when players are needed as the result of injuries or other roster moves, such as bereavement leave.

The NBA salary cap is the limit to the total amount of money that National Basketball Association teams are allowed to pay their players. Like the other major professional sports leagues in North America, the NBA has a salary cap to control costs and benefit parity, defined by the league's collective bargaining agreement (CBA). This limit is subject to a complex system of rules and exceptions and is calculated as a percentage of the league's revenue from the previous season. Under the CBA ratified in July 2017, the cap will continue to vary in future seasons based on league revenues. For the 2022–23 season, the cap is set at $123.655 million.

The NBA Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) is a contract between the National Basketball Association (NBA) and the National Basketball Players Association (NBPA), the players' union, that dictates the rules of player contracts, trades, revenue distribution, the NBA draft, and the salary cap, among other things. In June 2005, the NBA's 1999 CBA expired, meaning the League and the players' union had to negotiate a new agreement; in light of the 2004–05 NHL lockout, the two sides quickly came to an agreement, and ratified a new CBA in July 2005. This agreement expired following the 2010–11 season, leading to the 2011 NBA lockout. A new CBA was ratified in December 2011, ending the lockout.

In professional sports within the United States and Canada, a trade is a sports league transaction between sports clubs involving the exchange of player rights from one team to another. Though player rights are the primary trading assets, draft picks and cash are other assets that may be supplemented to consummate a trade, either packaged alongside player rights to be transferred to another team, or as standalone assets in exchange for player rights and/or draft picks in return. Typically, trades are completed between two clubs, but there are instances where trades are consummated between three or more clubs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">P. K. Subban</span> Canadian ice hockey player (born 1989)

Pernell-Karl Sylvester Subban is a Canadian former professional ice hockey defenceman. Between 2009 and 2022, he played 13 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Montreal Canadiens, Nashville Predators, and New Jersey Devils. The Canadiens selected Subban in the second round, 43rd overall, of the 2007 NHL Entry Draft. In 2013, he won the Norris Trophy as the NHL's top defenceman, and tied with Kris Letang as the season's leading scorer among defencemen. In the summer of 2014, he signed an eight-year, $72 million contract with the Canadiens, running through the 2021–22 season. After the 2015–16 season, Subban was traded to the Nashville Predators, where he spent three seasons before being traded to New Jersey in 2019. He is now a broadcast analyst for the NHL on ESPN.

The NHL salary cap is the total amount of money that National Hockey League (NHL) teams are allowed to pay their players. It is a "hard" salary cap, meaning there are no exemptions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Waivers (NHL)</span> National Hockey League labor management procedure

Waivers is a National Hockey League (NHL) labor management procedure by which an NHL team makes a professional ice hockey player's contract and rights available to all other NHL teams. Other NHL teams "waive" any claim to a player designated for assignment in the American Hockey League (AHL) or designated for release. The process is typically referred to as "being placed on waivers." It is similar to the designated for assignment process in Major League Baseball.

The 2012–13 NHL season was the 96th season of operation of the National Hockey League (NHL). The regular season began on January 19, 2013, and ended on April 28, 2013, with the playoffs to follow until June.

The following are the types of hockey contracts that players may be signed to when they play professional ice hockey.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Keith Kinkaid</span> American ice hockey player (born 1989)

Keith Patrick Kinkaid is an American professional ice hockey goaltender for the Chicago Wolves of the American Hockey League (AHL) while under contract to the New Jersey Devils of the National Hockey League (NHL).

The 2012–13 Buffalo Sabres season was the 43rd season for the National Hockey League (NHL) franchise that was established on May 22, 1970. The regular season was reduced from its usual 82 games to 48 due to a lockout. The season was the 15th and final season coached by Lindy Ruff, who was fired after a 6–10–1 start. The Sabres failed to qualify for the Stanley Cup playoffs for the second consecutive season.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jaycob Megna</span> American ice hockey player (born 1992)

Jaycob Megna is an American professional ice hockey defenseman currently playing for the Chicago Blackhawks of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was selected by the Anaheim Ducks in the 7th round of the 2012 NHL Entry Draft.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Will Butcher</span> American ice hockey player (born 1995)

William Butcher is an American professional ice hockey defenseman for the Iowa Wild of the American Hockey League (AHL) while under contract to the Minnesota Wild of the National Hockey League (NHL). Butcher was selected in the fifth round, 123rd overall, by the Colorado Avalanche in the 2013 NHL Entry Draft.

References

  1. ↑ "Major league dreams are anything but cheap". The Augusta Chronicle . December 3, 2006. Retrieved December 1, 2010.
  2. ↑ "Frequently Asked Questions: NBA G League". NBA G League. Retrieved 2021-05-01.
  3. ↑ Quinn, Sam (April 3, 2023). "NBA CBA 101: Everything to know about new agreement, from salary cap to free agency and beyond". CBSSports.com. Retrieved June 19, 2023.
  4. ↑ Dauster, Rob (April 27, 2017). "D-League salaries, two-way contracts increase NBA Draft early entries". NBCSports.com . Retrieved July 8, 2017.
  5. 1 2 Cato, Tim (July 18, 2017). "How the NBA's new 2-way contracts work and why some agents are worried about them". Sbnation.com. Retrieved January 15, 2019.
  6. ↑ "Kings sign Jack Cooley to two-way contract, report says". Sacbee.com. July 23, 2017. Retrieved January 15, 2019.
  7. ↑ NBA Compensation Overview - CBA Breakdown
  8. ↑ 2017 NBA-NBPA Collective Bargaining Agreement
  9. ↑ Robb, Brian (June 29, 2020). "Two-way players will be eligible to play in playoffs this season". Boston Sports Journal. Retrieved June 29, 2020.
  10. ↑ Game, Playoff Appearance Limits For Two-Way Players Lifted
  11. ↑ "What is a Split Contract? | Glossary | MLB.com". MLB.com. May 24, 2018. Retrieved January 15, 2019.
  12. ↑ "Penguins sign F Craig to two-way contract - NHL.com - News". NHL.com. July 2, 2010. Retrieved January 15, 2019.
  13. ↑ "Dawes signs 2-way contract with Thrashers - sportsnet.ca". September 10, 2010. Archived from the original on September 13, 2010. Retrieved January 25, 2011.
  14. ↑ "Brandon Segal placed on waivers - Sports News - The Dallas Morning News". January 10, 2011. Archived from the original on January 13, 2011. Retrieved January 25, 2011.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.