Final answer:
Professional athletes' contracts often include restrictive covenants to prohibit them from engaging in risky activities, which are legally enforceable clauses designed to protect the investing organization's interests by limiting the athlete's actions outside of their professional duties.
Step-by-step explanation:
Professional athletes often have contract clauses prohibiting risky activities such as skiing and motorcycle riding. These clauses are known as restrictive covenants. A restrictive covenant is a type of agreement included in contracts to limit the actions that can be taken by the parties involved, often to protect business interests. In the context of an athlete's contract, this helps to mitigate the risk of injury outside of their professional activities which could prevent them from playing their sport and fulfilling other contractual obligations.
In contrast to being illegal, restrictive covenants are legal arrangements that reflect the interest of one party, in this case, the sports team or organization, in protecting their property rights—the athlete's ability to perform. They are a fundamental part of contractual rights based on property rights, which allows individuals and entities to enter agreements ensuring recourse through the legal system in cases of noncompliance. If an athlete were to defy these restrictions and become injured, the team could potentially seek compensation or terminate the agreement under the terms of the restrictive covenant.