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.

Two-way contracts are common for professional ice hockey players who aspire to play in the National Hockey League (NHL). 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.

Beginning in the 2017–18 season, the National Basketball Association added two-way contracts between NBA teams and their NBA G League affiliates. 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 the season in the G League. As of the 2017–18 NBA season, players earn $75,000 while they are in the G League and roughly $204,000 if they spend 45 days in the NBA. If a player that was previously on a two-way contract gets waived before or during the season, the team can replace that contract with another player, as long as it is done before the roster movement deadline.