Bridging Stigma: Marketing the Mindsport Bridge to the Next Generation of Players

Citation

Maclean J, Punch S, Hay G, Nicholson E, Ballinger C & Biriotti M (2026) Bridging Stigma: Marketing the Mindsport Bridge to the Next Generation of Players. Leisure Sciences. https://doi.org/10.1080/01490400.2026.2619096

Abstract
The image of the card game bridge is associated with an older generation of players. This study develops ideal types of bridge players as a way of challenging the mindsport’s stigmatized image to promote and increase its global reach. In a two-part emergent design, part one involved five workshops with the bridge community and part two involved three focus groups with non-bridge players. Among the bridge community, there was a consensus for the socializer, self-improver, and competitor ideal types, but not for the mind-gamer type. Although the ideal types were evident in non-bridge players’ experiences of sport, they might not be enough in themselves to persuade them to play bridge. To conclude, identity-based marketing can be used to rebrand bridge as a mindsport and mind-game to overcome its negative stigmatized image.

Keywords
Bridge; leisure; mindsport; stigma

Journal
Leisure Sciences

• Bridging Stigma