SAM.gov Contract Opportunities
Opportunities
Also known as: Contract Opportunities, the GPE, FedBizOpps / FBO (predecessor)
Visit Opportunities →Operated by GSA (Integrated Award Environment)
At a Glance
- Official site
- sam.gov/content/opportunities
- Run by
- GSA — part of SAM.gov
- When you use it
- To find set-asides and market-research notices to respond to
- Cost
- Free to search; no account needed to view notices
- Replaced
- FedBizOpps (FBO), retired in 2019 and merged into SAM.gov
What It Is
SAM.gov Contract Opportunities is the governmentwide point of entry (GPE) — the single public place where federal agencies are required to post most contracting notices. It absorbed FedBizOpps (FBO), which was retired in 2019 and folded into SAM.gov. Under FAR Subpart 5.1 and FAR 5.201, agencies generally must synopsize proposed contract actions expected to exceed $25,000 on the GPE, so this is where sources-sought notices, presolicitation synopses, requests for proposals and quotations, combined synopsis/solicitations, special notices, and award notices appear. Anyone can search and read the notices without an account, filter by NAICS code, set-aside type, agency, and place of performance, and download attached solicitation documents. Contract Opportunities is the demand side of the federal market: it is where an SDVOSB actually finds the set-asides to pursue and where it can watch an agency's market research take shape before a solicitation drops.
When You Touch It
- To find set-asides — search live solicitations filtered to your NAICS codes and the SDVOSB set-aside type.
- To catch market research early — sources-sought and presolicitation notices signal a buy before the solicitation posts.
- To download solicitation documents — attachments, drawings, and Q&A are posted on the notice.
- To study award notices — see who won, which helps size up the competition on the next buy.
Key Features
| Feature | What It Means |
|---|---|
| The governmentwide point of entry | It is the single required posting place for most federal notices, so it is the one site that aggregates agencies' opportunities. |
| The $25,000 synopsis line | Agencies generally must synopsize proposed actions expected to exceed $25,000 here, which is why so many set-asides surface on it. |
| Free and open to search | You can search, filter, and read notices — and download solicitation attachments — without an account. |
| Every notice type | Sources sought, presolicitations, RFPs/RFQs, combined synopsis/solicitations, special notices, and award notices all post here. |
What It Means for an SDVOSB
This is where an SDVOSB's pipeline actually comes from, so the payoff is in how you watch it, not just that you check it. Save searches filtered to your NAICS codes and the SDVOSB set-aside type and turn on notifications, so a matching solicitation reaches you the day it posts rather than the week it closes. Just as important, work the sources-sought and presolicitation notices, not only the live RFPs: responding to a sources-sought in your NAICS is how you help a contracting officer document that two or more capable SDVOSBs exist, which is exactly what converts a would-be full-and-open buy into an SDVOSB set-aside under the rule of two. Reading award notices closes the loop — you learn who is winning in your space and can position for the recompete.
Watch Out For
- Only watching live RFPs — the leverage is in sources-sought and presolicitation notices that shape whether a buy is set aside at all.
- Ignoring the NAICS filter — searching too broadly buries the set-asides that actually fit your codes.
- Missing attachments and amendments — the real requirement and its changes live in the posted documents, not the summary.
- Assuming everything posts here — very small buys under the synopsis threshold and certain exceptions may never appear.
Run the Numbers
Frequently Asked
What is SAM.gov Contract Opportunities?
SAM.gov Contract Opportunities is the governmentwide point of entry — the single public website where federal agencies post most of their contracting notices, including sources-sought notices, presolicitations, requests for proposals and quotations, combined synopsis/solicitations, special notices, and award notices. It replaced FedBizOpps (FBO) in 2019. Under FAR Subpart 5.1, agencies generally must synopsize proposed actions expected to exceed $25,000 here, and anyone can search and read the notices for free without an account.
Is SAM.gov Contract Opportunities the same as FedBizOpps?
It is the successor to FedBizOpps (FBO). FBO was the government's prior opportunity-posting site; it was retired in 2019 and its function was merged into SAM.gov as the Contract Opportunities domain. So notices that once appeared on FBO now appear in SAM.gov Contract Opportunities, and the underlying legal requirement — that agencies publicize proposed contract actions on a single governmentwide point of entry — is unchanged.
Do I need an account to search opportunities?
No. You can search, filter, and read Contract Opportunities notices and download their attachments without an account. You only need a SAM.gov account and an active entity registration when you go to actually submit an offer or when a particular solicitation requires you to be registered. For simply finding and studying set-asides, searching is free and open.
Primary Sources
- FAR Subpart 5.1 — Dissemination of Information
- FAR 5.201 — General (governmentwide point of entry)
- SAM.gov Contract Opportunities
Plain-English reference, not legal advice. Government systems are periodically consolidated, renamed, or migrated to new addresses, and the FAR/DFARS sections that govern them are amended from time to time — always confirm the current system, its URL, and its requirements against the official site and the actual solicitation before relying on it, and consult qualified counsel for your specific situation.
Change log (1)
- LaunchedPublished the federal contracting systems & databases reference covering the online systems an SDVOSB registers in, is found in, and is evaluated through — SAM.gov (FAR Subpart 4.11), the Unique Entity ID (FAR 52.204-6), VetCert (13 CFR Part 128), SAM.gov Contract Opportunities (FAR 5.201), the Dynamic Small Business Search (FAR 19.202-2), SBA SubNet (FAR Subpart 19.7), the Federal Procurement Data System (FAR Subpart 4.6), USAspending.gov (FFATA/DATA Act), CPARS (FAR Subpart 42.15), FAPIIS (FAR 9.104-6), the Supplier Performance Risk System (DFARS 252.204-7019/7020), the electronic Subcontracting Reporting System (FAR 52.219-9), and the FFATA Subaward Reporting System (FAR 52.204-10) — each with an at-a-glance quick-facts card showing the official site and operating agency, a when-you-touch-it list, a key-features table, an SDVOSB-specific angle, watch-outs, FAQPage, Article, Dataset, and BreadcrumbList structured data, primary-source citations, and cross-links into the glossary, how-to guides, forms, clauses, FAQ, and the set-aside eligibility, size-standard, win-probability, price-to-win, and subcontracting calculators.