In professional sports, a free agent is a team player whose contract with a team has expired, and the player is able to sign a contract with another team. The term came into wide use in North America after sports leagues stopped using a "reserve clause" after much acrimonious collective bargaining, which provided a repetitive option for the club to renew the contract for one more year, but did not allow the player to terminate the relationship with the team. The result of the reserve clause was abusive from the player standpoint so that a player was essentially property of the team. Once in free agency, a player is in a "pool" of free agents, from which teams can sign players who are able to drive hard bargains in the employment market place since the owners now must compete for their talents.

In Europe some countries such as Spain had a system whereby footballers were entitled to a free transfer at the end of their contract. In most countries however this was not the case until the 1995 Bosman ruling by the European Court of Justice which established this right for players in all EU member nations. The ruling has since been extended to cover other professional sports and players from Eastern Europe.

Restricted and unrestricted free agency

Unrestricted free agents (UFAs) are players without a team. They have either been released from their club or had the term of their contract expire without a renewal. These players, generally speaking, are free to entertain offers from all other teams and to decide with whom to sign a new contract.

The specific rules of restricted free agency vary among the major professional sports, but in principle, it means that a player is free to solicit offers from other teams for new contracts. However, before this player is allowed to sign with the new club, the current club has a chance to match (or come within 10% in some leagues) the terms of the new contract in which case the player must remain with the original team.

Age and experience in the league are the two most common criteria for whether a player qualifies for unrestricted free agency.

In the North American professional leagues, any player without a contract becomes a free agent. An Unrestricted Free Agent is able to sign with any team. A restricted free agent is only allowed to get offers from other teams if the player is offered by his own team. Usually, the better offer wins.

Drawbacks for owners

The economics of free agency are disadvantageous for team owners; it can lead to bidding wars -- and increased player salaries mean decreased owner profits. Restrictions on free agency has therefore been preferred by North American team owners since the abolition of the reserve clause. For example, a draft can be used to keep young and talented players from generating bidding wars, and causing higher player salaries throughout the league.

In Europe, the wages of the top players have increased dramatically since the Bosman Ruling, although this is partly due to increased television revenues. Some club chairmen have called for a payroll cap in a bid to control player wages but this would almost certainly be ruled anti-competitive and therefore illegal under EU law. As in North America, the number of transfers involving a fee are on the decline as clubs can now wait for their targets to see out their contracts and move "on a free".

Deadlines

In some leagues, free agency has deadlines. For example, under the current NHL Collective Bargaining Agreement, restricted free agents who do not sign contracts by December 1 of a given year will be ineligible to play in the NHL for the balance of that season. However, other leagues (such as the NBA) have no such restrictions.

In Europe, players can only move during transfer windows - during the close season and half-way through the league season. There are exceptions for unattached (i.e., unemployed) professional players in the lower divisions.

NFL usage

Unrestricted Free Agents (UFA) are players who have completed four or more accrued seasons of service and whose contracts have expired. They are free to sign with any club through July 22 (or the first scheduled day of the first NFL training camp, whichever is later). On July 23, their exclusive rights will revert to their original club if that club made a June 1 tender to these players. Teams will have until the Tuesday after the 10th week of the season (November 14) to sign their unrestricted veteran free agents to whom a tender was made on June 1. If the player does not sign by November 14, he must continue to sit out the remainder of the season. If a June 1 tender is not made to a UFA, he continues to be free to sign with any club.

Restricted Free Agents (RFA) are players who have completed three accrued seasons of service and whose contracts have expired. They have received qualifying offers from their old clubs and are free to negotiate with any club until April 21, at which time their rights revert to their original club. If a player accepts an offer from a new club, the old club will have the right to match the offer and retain the player. If the old club elects not to match the offer, it may receive draft-choice compensation depending on the level of the qualifying offer made to the player.

For more details on this topic, see Restricted free agent.

The signing period for unrestricted free agents began March 11 and concludes on July 22 (or the first scheduled day of the first NFL training camp, whichever is later). The signing period for RFAs also began March 11 but concludes on April 21.