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Author Topic: Bowling  (Read 5120 times)

CBB

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Bowling
« on: September 12, 2015, 08:33:17 PM »
I have not Bowled in 4 -5 Years but still love the Sport. My question to You is how is Bowling going? Are the number finally climbing in Leagues? Where I am from Leagues are doing Ok. I see AMF kicked out all of their pro shops. I get My Sanction Card every Season even though I don't Bowl. It's being part of a Membership like it says on the Card. Someone told Me that I would make more money owning a Dry Cleaners over a Bowling Store. Is that true? I see the ladies came back. That should be good for Bowling. How many Leagues is everyone in? Whats the going rate per week? Thanks for answering My questions in advance.
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itsallaboutme

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Re: Bowling
« Reply #1 on: September 13, 2015, 05:50:24 AM »
Leagues are still going the wrong direction.
More leagues are not sanctioning.
AMF didn't get rid of all pro shops, but did get rid of some and replaced operators in others.
A Dry Cleaner in a bad location will make more money than a bowling store.
The ladies are back.  Only 2 of 8 tournaments had title sponsors.  Won't last long like that.
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TonyinPortland

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Re: Bowling
« Reply #2 on: September 13, 2015, 10:08:19 AM »
Both my leagues are down teams so far, but it has only been one night.  Also, several teams were short bowlers. 

There are so few younger bowlers, at the rate it is going, league bowling will be mostly gone in 20 years.
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avabob

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Re: Bowling
« Reply #3 on: September 13, 2015, 07:03:37 PM »
Leagues will never come back to where they were years ago.  The real key is finding a financial model that is profitable for bowling centers so they can continue to offer the opportunity for the smaller base of league bowlers. 
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spmcgivern

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Re: Bowling
« Reply #4 on: September 14, 2015, 08:08:38 AM »
I am confident league bowling will not disappear. They may never reach the numbers from the glory days, but it won't disappear.

My opinion is the cost of giving customers what they want does not make bowling as profitable as it used to be.  Many current centers are lacking in the updating department.  Owners are holding on deciding whether carpet or paint will keep their customers happy this year.  Not new scoring or furniture or anything like that.  Many owners don't have that much capital.

Eventually a bowling center will be profitable to warrant building new ones or renovating older ones to like-new.  May mean losing another 10-20% of the lanes we have now.  Maybe more if leagues continue to shrink.  There are too many centers/lanes to support the smaller number of league bowlers we have now. 
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amyers2002

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Re: Bowling
« Reply #5 on: September 14, 2015, 08:38:20 AM »
Bowling will never again bee what it was during 60s,70s, and 80s. Lifestyles and work hours have changed and will not go back. That said I do think we are getting closer to having a base and league sport bowling is not going away. We may still lose some centers but Bowling is not dying.
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avabob

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Re: Bowling
« Reply #6 on: September 14, 2015, 12:00:36 PM »
The biggest problem from a business perspective is how capital intensive it is.  Lane beds, pinsetters, lane machines, and scoring systems have all increased dramatically over the years.  In the 1960's you could equip a 24 lane center for 250k.  One problem bowling had from Day 1 was the pricing model.  Too many centers lived off positive cash flow, but weren't covering depreciation for a return on investment.  Today their are simply many more investments that return more than even a profitable bowling center can.   
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spmcgivern

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Re: Bowling
« Reply #7 on: September 14, 2015, 01:03:44 PM »
Quote from: avabob on September 14, 2015, 12:00:36 PM
The biggest problem from a business perspective is how capital intensive it is.  Lane beds, pinsetters, lane machines, and scoring systems have all increased dramatically over the years.  In the 1960's you could equip a 24 lane center for 250k.  One problem bowling had from Day 1 was the pricing model.  Too many centers lived off positive cash flow, but weren't covering depreciation for a return on investment.  Today their are simply many more investments that return more than even a profitable bowling center can.   
Quote from: avabob on September 14, 2015, 12:00:36 PM
The biggest problem from a business perspective is how capital intensive it is.  Lane beds, pinsetters, lane machines, and scoring systems have all increased dramatically over the years.  In the 1960's you could equip a 24 lane center for 250k.  One problem bowling had from Day 1 was the pricing model.  Too many centers lived off positive cash flow, but weren't covering depreciation for a return on investment.  Today their are simply many more investments that return more than even a profitable bowling center can.   

So true.  No one is "renting" lanes anymore.  So the capital cost of a new center is astronomical. 
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Azaelv

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Re: Bowling
« Reply #8 on: September 14, 2015, 08:53:12 PM »
In Mexico leagues are full in my city, specially in one center where pretty much everyday there is at least one league at play, way different than what you guys are saying, on another center there are leagus but from companies, so I guess those ones don't count lol
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avabob

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Re: Bowling
« Reply #9 on: September 15, 2015, 11:40:13 AM »
Outside of the US the game gets a lot more respect as a sport.  Maybe getting it into the Olympics would help here.
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