A roster bonus is a feature that may be included in a professional

sports Sport is a physical activity or game, often competitive and organized, that maintains or improves physical ability and skills. Sport may provide enjoyment to participants and entertainment to spectators. The number of participants in ...

player

contract A contract is an agreement that specifies certain legally enforceable rights and obligations pertaining to two or more parties. A contract typically involves consent to transfer of goods, services, money, or promise to transfer any of thos ...

. A roster bonus is conditional, unlike a

signing bonus A signing bonus or sign-on bonus is a sum of money paid to a new employee (including a professional sports person) by a company as an incentive to join that company. They are often given as a way of making a compensation package more attractive ...

. The latter is received upon the initial signing of the contract and is generally the player's regardless of future events. The roster bonus, however, is paid only if a player is still on the active roster of the team at a specific future date. This feature is mostly used in

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

contracts. Most NFL roster bonuses have trigger dates of either March 1 or June 1 of a specific future year. If the player is on the team's roster as of that date, the entire amount of the bonus must be paid, even if he is released the next day. The roster bonus has a very specific effect on a team's "

salary cap In professional sports, a salary cap (or wage 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. Seve ...

," the amount of its payroll that counts toward the money permitted by league agreement. Unlike a

, the amount of a roster bonus is not prorated over the lifetime of a player's contract. Thus, roster bonuses are often used by teams that prefer to front-load the salary cap impact of a contract and lessen the impact on future years. In other cases, large roster bonuses are not truly intended by the parties to be paid, but rather to create a virtual deadline by which a team will either cut the player or renegotiate their contract.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Roster Bonus Terminology used in multiple sports