The general event guidelines below are applicable to all FBLA national competitive events. Please review and follow these guidelines when competing at the national level. When competing at the state level, check the state guidelines since they may differ.
All members and advisers are responsible for reading and following
competitive event guidelines.
Eligibility
- Dues: Competitors must have paid FBLA national and state dues by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on March 1 of the current school year.
- Registration: Participants must be registered for the National Leadership Conference and pay the national conference registration fee in order to participate in competitive events.
- Deadlines: The state chair, or designee, must register each state competitor on the official online entry forms by 11:59pm Eastern Time on the second Tuesday in May.
- Each state may submit four entries in all events.
- Each competitor can only compete in one individual/team event and one chapter event.
- Each competitor must compete in all parts of an event for award eligibility.
- A team shall consist of two or three members. The exception is Parliamentary Procedure, which must
be a team of four or five members. - All members of a team must consist of individuals from the same chapter.
- If competitors are late for a competitive event, there are no guarantees they will get to compete.
- Competitive event schedules cannot be changed.
PLEASE NOTE that competitive events start before the opening session of the Conference. - Competitors may be disqualified if they violate competitive event guidelines.
- Picture identification (drivers’ license, passport, state-issued identification, or school-issued identification) is required when checking in for competitive events.
Repeat Competitors
- Members may compete in an event more than once if they have not previously placed in the top ten of that event at the National Leadership Conference
- If a member places in the top ten of an event at the National Leadership Conference, they are no longer eligible to compete in that event. This eliminates the exceptions for team events that were previously in place, as this change will now affect all events.
- Modified Events: A competitor may compete in the same event when the event is modified, regardless of placement at a National Leadership Conference. Note, if the only modification is a name change, competitors may not compete in the renamed event if they have previously placed in the top ten at the National Leadership Conference.
- Chapter Events: Competitors may compete in a chapter event as many times as they wish, regardless of placement at a previous National Leadership Conference (American Enterprise Project, Community Service Project, Local Chapter Annual Business Report, and Partnership with Business Project).
- Pilot Event: Competition in a pilot event does not disqualify a competitor from competing in the same event if it becomes an official competitive event. The participant may compete in another event as well as a pilot event.
Breaking Ties
- Objective Tests: Ties are broken by comparing the correct number of answers to the last 10 questions on the exam. If a tie remains, the competitor who completed the test in a shorter amount of time will place higher. If this does not break the tie, answers to the last 20 questions will
be reviewed to determine the winner. - Objective and Production Tests: The production test scores will be used to break a tie.
- Objective Tests and Performances: The objective test score will be used to break a tie based on the tie-breaking criteria of objective tests.
- Reports/Projects and Performances: The report/project scores will be used to break a tie.
- Performances: Judges must break ties and all judges’ decisions are final.
National Deadlines
- State chair/adviser must register all competitors for Conference competitive events online by 11:59pm. Eastern Time on the second Tuesday in May.
- All prejudged components (reports and projects) must be submitted by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on the second Tuesday in May.
- All prejudged projects and reports must be submitted electronically.
- All production tests must be submitted by 11:59pm Eastern Time on the third Tuesday in May.
- All production tests must be uploaded online on the required platform.
- State chair/adviser may make name changes only (no additional entries) by 11:59pm Eastern Time on the first Tuesday in June. Competitor drops are the only changes allowed after this date and onsite.
National Awards
- The number of competitors will determine the number of winners. The maximum number of winners for each competitive event is 10.
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
- FBLA‑PBL meets the criteria specified in the Americans with Disabilities Act for all participants who submit an accommodation form.
- The form must be submitted by 11:59pm Eastern Time on the second Tuesday in May.
Recording of Presentations
- No unauthorized audio or video recording devices will be allowed in any competitive event. Participants in the performance events should be aware the national association reserves the right to record any performance for use in study or training materials.
