reserve clause
noun
: a clause formerly placed in a professional athlete's contract that reserved for the club the exclusive right automatically to renew the contract and that bound the athlete to the club until retirement or until the athlete was traded or released
Examples of reserve clause in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Their teams renewed deals, $115,000 each, citing the reserve clause instituted in 1879.
—
Chuck Murr, Forbes.com, 19 Jan. 2026
And that reserve clause — Jonas Valanciunas, Tim Hardaway Jr., Bruce Brown — was made possible by the willingness of co-GMs Ben Tenzer and Jon Wallace to trade Michael Porter Jr., something Booth always seemed reluctant to consider.
—Troy Renck, Denver Post, 15 Jan. 2026
Flood battled baseball and commissioner Bowie Kuhn all the way to the Supreme Court, arguing that the sport’s notorious reserve clause — granting teams control of players even after their contracts expired — was unconstitutional.
—Ian O'Connor, New York Times, 30 July 2025
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.
—Steve Henson, Los Angeles Times, 25 Sep. 2024
See All Example Sentences for reserve clause
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Chuck Murr, Forbes.com, 19 Jan. 2026
And that reserve clause — Jonas Valanciunas, Tim Hardaway Jr., Bruce Brown — was made possible by the willingness of co-GMs Ben Tenzer and Jon Wallace to trade Michael Porter Jr., something Booth always seemed reluctant to consider.
—Troy Renck, Denver Post, 15 Jan. 2026
Flood battled baseball and commissioner Bowie Kuhn all the way to the Supreme Court, arguing that the sport’s notorious reserve clause — granting teams control of players even after their contracts expired — was unconstitutional.
—Ian O'Connor, New York Times, 30 July 2025
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.
—Steve Henson, Los Angeles Times, 25 Sep. 2024
See All Example Sentences for reserve clause
Cite this Entry
“Reserve clause.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/reserve%20clause. Accessed 2 Feb. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
