I am in a 4 man scratch league that is one of the best in town.  The problem our league is facing is we have had quite a few teams drop out over the last couple years.  We have about half the teams we had just 3 years ago.  One of the obstacles we face is that our league bowls second shift starting at 9:00pm.  Unfortunately there is no room at this center for us to move the league to an earlier time slot.  One of the more frequent complaints we are getting is that the league gets done too late (roughly 11:15pm). 

In an effort to improve the league, one of the ideas the league is tossing around is switching to a 3 man team format for the next fall season.  This rationale would enable us to get done about 30 minutes earlier (roughly 10:45pm) and possibly be able to gain back some of the bowlers we have lost.

With that possibility facing us, what would you set the average cap per team at?  Some are making a case for a lower cap (ex 620) and others are looking to make it higher (640). 

Any thoughts, suggestions or new ideas are appreciated.

if its a trio SCRATCH league everyone should be (key word should) averaging at least 205-210 unless youre bowling on a modified house shot so a cap of 620 is way too low. i would make it 660 or 690 with how easy house shots are now a days

That works if you have the talent pool to bowl. Our scratch league is 3 person draft with high average of 228 and low average if 170. We have 12 teams so 35 bowlers and we do not have 36 "scratch" 200 plus bowlers to bowl in our area.

Our second best league in town had 48 bowlers for years. 3 years ago they removed the cap because one team did not want to break up and now they are potentially folding the league next year because they will be lucky to have 6 teams. Everyone is quitting because two teams were stacked and people are tired of donating to those two teams (and yes, one of te teams was the teams that wanted the cap removed). Of the teams they had last year, they had bowlers averaging under 100 due to no one wanting to bowl against the two stacked teams. And yes, this league was a scratch league. I bowled this league for 15 years and walked out of the meeting when they dropped the cap and told them to remove my team. I had a competitive team, but not competitive enough to complete against two stacked teams. I am willing to change my team yearly to stay under the cap.

All I am saying is you need to build your league based on the talent you have available in your area.