Two-way contract
A two-way contract is a professional sports contract which 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]
Ice hockey
Two-way contracts are common for professional ice hockey players who aspire to play in the National Hockey League (NHL).[2][3] 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.[4]
Basketball
Beginning in the 2017–18 season, the National Basketball Association added two-way contracts between NBA teams and their NBA G League affiliates. Unlike in the NHL, these contracts are not offered to every aspiring NBA player, but are primarily toward undrafted 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 first or second-round of an NBA draft can be retained by teams under a two-way contract as an alternative signing method for them. Each NBA team can have up to two two-way contract players per season, and are typically considered to be the "16th and 17th men" on a roster.[5] 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.[6] However, some players that have proven themselves during their time under a two-way contract can then be eligible to play under a full-scale contract for the rest of the season afterward, though they primarily require removing another player from the team to make that happen and they usually (though don't always) require a mixed amount of playing time between the NBA and NBA G League with an affiliate squad.
Salary changes
Originally, excluding time spent before and after the G League's season begins and ends, players on two-way contracts can spend up to 45 days in the NBA while spending the rest of their season in the G League, with these players being ineligible for play in the NBA Playoffs if they made it there while staying as two-way contracts at that time.[7][6] 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 amount of 45 days on an NBA roster, with salaries expected to increase only by minor amounts as more seasons went by, with the final expected salaries going up to a minimum of $92,241 by the 2024–25 season.[8][9] However, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic during the suspension of the 2019–20 NBA season, the NBA eventually allowed for players with two-way contracts to become eligible for the 2020 NBA Playoffs within their 2020 NBA Bubble setting for fears of how infectious COVID-19's rate of infection could spread among the players in their teams.[10] Furthermore, with the pandemic still going on into the 2020–21 season, the NBA allowed a significant increase in salary for two-way contracts going from an initial $81,955 minimum salary to an overall salary worth $449,155 for at least this season, with an increase of eligible NBA games played from 45 total days in the NBA to 50 games in their shortened down, 72-game season (later expanding to the entire regular season and the 2021 NBA Playoffs, with players going over the initial 50-game limit later receiving an official veteran's minimum salary for that season) due to a combination of continued COVID-19 risks and a truncated 2020–21 NBA G League season occurring in a similar manner to the 2020 NBA Bubble.[11] However, as of April 2021, it is currently unknown if these newer additions made for two-way contracts that season are more permanent changes even after the end of the pandemic going forward or not.
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.[12]
See also
References
- ^ "Major league dreams are anything but cheap". The Augusta Chronicle. December 3, 2006. Retrieved December 1, 2010.
- ^ "Penguins sign F Craig to two-way contract - NHL.com - News". NHL.com. July 2, 2010. Retrieved January 15, 2019.
- ^ "Dawes signs 2-way contract with Thrashers - sportsnet.ca". September 10, 2010. Archived from the original on September 13, 2010. Retrieved January 25, 2011.
- ^ "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.
- ^ Dauster, Rob (April 27, 2017). "D-League salaries, two-way contracts increase NBA Draft early entries". NBCSports.com. Retrieved July 8, 2017.
- ^ a b 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.
- ^ "Kings sign Jack Cooley to two-way contract, report says". Sacbee.com. July 23, 2017. Retrieved January 15, 2019.
- ^ NBA Compensation Overview - CBA Breakdown
- ^ 2017 NBA-NBPA Collective Bargaining Agreement
- ^ Two-way players will be eligible to play in playoffs this season | Boston Sports Journal
- ^ Game, Playoff Appearance Limits For Two-Way Players Lifted
- ^ "What is a Split Contract? | Glossary | MLB.com". MLB.com. May 24, 2018. Retrieved January 15, 2019.