What Does Wild Card In Sports Mean And How Did The Term Originate?

The term wild card originated in card games in which a card designated as wild could be assigned any value by the player to better his chances of winning. The term came to be used in sports as well especially in tennis Grand Slam tournaments which gave wild cards to promising upcoming players belonging to the country in which the Grand Slam was being held; wild cards were also given to players who had performed well in the tournament in the past or to those who were crowd pullers. Goran Ivanisevic the 2001 Wimbledon champion is the only tennis player to win the tournament as a wild card.

The term wild card is also used in sports leagues like in Major League Baseball and National Football League; a team getting a wild card becomes eligible for the Championship playoffs without topping its division. In Major League Baseball the team qualifying with a wild card has a better record among all second placed teams while in the National Football League a Wild Card Round is played featuring two out of the four division champions and two wild card teams.