A two-way contract is a
professional sports
In professional sports, as opposed to amateur sports, participants receive payment for their performance. Professionalism in sport has come to the fore through a combination of developments. Mass media and increased leisure have brought larg ...
contract that stipulates that an athlete's
salary
A salary is a form of periodic payment from an employer to an employee, which may be specified in an employment contract. It is contrasted with piece wages, where each job, hour or other unit is paid separately, rather than on a periodic basis.
...
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.
Ice hockey
Two-way contracts are common for professional
ice hockey
Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...
players who aspire to play in the
National Hockey League
The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...
(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 league
Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in Nor ...
s such as the
American Hockey League
The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league based in the United States and Canada that serves as the primary Minor league#Ice hockey, developmental league for the National Hockey League (NHL). Since the 2010–11 AHL se ...
or the
ECHL
The ECHL (formerly the East Coast Hockey League) is a mid-level professional ice hockey league based in Shrewsbury, New Jersey, with teams scattered across the United States and Canada. It is a tier below the American Hockey League (AHL).
The E ...
.
Basketball
Beginning in the 2017–18 season, the
National Basketball Association
The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United S ...
added
two-way contracts
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 ...
between NBA teams and their
NBA G League
The NBA G League, or simply the G League, is the National Basketball Association's (NBA) official List of developmental and minor sports leagues, minor league basketball organization. The league was known as the National Basketball Development ...
affiliates. Each team can offer two contracts per season to players with fewer than four years of NBA experience. 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" on a roster.
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.
However, some players that 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.
[ 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.
However, as a result of the ]COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
, during the subsequent suspension of the 2019–20 NBA season
On March 11, 2020, the National Basketball Association (NBA) announced the suspension of the 2019–20 season following Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert testing positive for COVID-19, which occurred around the same time as COVID-19 lockdowns began ...
, 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
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...
outbreaks spreading among the players.
For the 2020–21 season, which was shortened to 72 games and paired with a truncated 2020–21 NBA G League season
The 2020–21 NBA G League season was the 20th season of the NBA G League, the official minor league basketball organization owned by the National Basketball Association (NBA). The season was indefinitely postponed following the previous season's ...
, 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. However, as of April 2021, it is currently unknown if these alterations will be made permanent.
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
Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...
or Minor League Baseball.
References
{{reflist
National Hockey League labor relations
National Basketball Association labor relations