BBO Membership - Partner FAQ

BBO has been free and unlimited for 25 years, supported mainly by advertising and tournament entry fees. The new membership model creates a more predictable source of funding for continued investment in the platform - tournament-management tools, director tools, reporting, club administration, player analysis, games and navigation.

BBO membership fees support access to and development of the platform. Tournament entry fees continue to cover tournament costs, including federation fees and masterpoints. The two remain separate.

Advertising alone does not provide the predictable funding needed for the level of long-term investment BBO plans to make, and it reduces the quality of the player experience.

Raising tournament entry fees would place more of the cost on the players who already support organized bridge. A BBO membership spreads the cost more broadly, while also giving players the option of an ad-free experience.

It does not change them.

Entry fees paid in BB$ continue to work exactly as they do today, and paid events are not subject to the new free-plan limits. A player on the free Basic plan can enter as many of your paid games as they wish, without buying a paid BBO membership.

No.

Players do not need a paid BBO membership to enter your paid tournaments, national events, championship events or other official partner games. They continue to pay the applicable game entry fee, exactly as before.

Yes.

Tournaments organized by your federation, league or club continue under the financial terms of our existing agreement. National and championship events hosted on BBO also continue as before.

No.

Entry-fee structures, revenue-share terms, masterpoint handling, reporting and the terms of our agreement are unchanged by the introduction of a BBO membership.

Nothing changes.

Any BB$ already held in a player's account remains available and can continue to be used for paid games and tournaments.

Players who use BBO to take part in paid games do not need to purchase a paid BBO membership. BBO Premium does not replace BB$ and does not include entry fees for paid tournaments.

Ads are hidden for one week whenever a player spends BB$ on BBO. Players who prefer to keep ads hidden permanently can choose a membership plan that includes this benefit. They will still pay the usual entry fees for your games and tournaments.

Yes.

The accounts your organization uses for official activity - tournament director accounts, district or regional accounts, affiliated club accounts and equivalent organization accounts - will be upgraded to Premium automatically and at no charge. They keep unlimited access to the features needed to run your events.

We will provide a list of the official accounts associated with your organization. As a general rule, activities previously hosted through the personal accounts of individual members should be moved to an official organization account, so they can continue without membership limitations.

Official free activities are not affected when they are created using your official BBO accounts and the tournament type and settings supplied to your organization. Players do not need a paid membership to take part, even when the entry fee is set to zero, and the six-deal daily limit does not apply.

Their official games continue as before.

Official club accounts will be upgraded to Premium. When clubs use the tournament type provided for sanctioned games, players do not need a paid BBO membership to take part, even when the entry fee is zero, and the daily deal limit does not apply.

Those events can continue exactly as they do today, provided the official account and tournament type supplied to your organization are used. Players will not need a paid BBO membership to take part.

The key distinction is between the account creating the match and the players invited to take part.

• Match created from an official organization account - that account has Premium access and can create matches without limitation. The players do not need a paid membership, provided the host reserves their seats when creating the match. Their play does not count against the daily deal allowance.
• Match created by a team captain on a personal account - creating the match is a Premium feature, so the captain would need a paid membership. The invited players still do not need one, provided their seats are reserved.

The simplest approach is to create official league matches from an organization account. If that does not fit your competition format, contact us so we can work with you on a practical solution.

No.

Teaching tables, bidding tables, Bridge Master, Mini Bridge, Vugraph and kibitzing remain free and unlimited on every plan. Your teaching programs, beginner sessions and event broadcasts continue exactly as before.

Juniors can receive one year of complimentary Premium membership, renewable while they continue to qualify as juniors and remain active on BBO. Partner organizations may send us lists of eligible junior members for enrollment.

They apply mainly when a player uses BBO independently - for example to join a free Social Bridge table, start a free Challenge or play certain solitaire bridge games. They do not apply to paid games or to official partner events.

→ See exactly what uses a daily deal

These are reference prices in US dollars. Players are charged in their local currency, and pricing may vary with local taxes and exchange rates.

No.

Players do not need a paid BBO membership to take part in your events. Your members can continue to play in them exactly as they do today.

A paid BBO membership is optional, and is only relevant to players who want broader access to BBO's independent free-play areas.

Many eligible long-standing players and community contributors will receive complimentary Premium membership automatically, in recognition of their contribution to BBO. They do not need to take any action or provide payment. Eligibility and renewal are handled by BBO.

We expect the opposite.

Access to your events is unchanged, and players can continue to enter without purchasing a paid BBO membership. With independent free play becoming more limited, organized paid games are likely to become more appealing, not less.

We will monitor participation closely through the same game-level and revenue-share reporting available today, and we will work with you to support the continued growth of your events.

Please direct them to the BBO membership help center, or to our support team at help.bridgebase.com. We would rather handle individual membership questions directly than add to the workload of partner staff.

→ BBO Membership: how it works

We can also provide suitable wording for your newsletter or your website.

For club, event, account and partnership questions, contact [email protected]. We are also available to brief your board or your tournament committee directly.