Author Topic: Vent on the State of the PBA (Read 3401 times)

TamerBowling · « **on:** April 19, 2012, 10:49:00 AM »

I didn't want to get into the whole state of bowling discussion, but rather more specifically my frustration over the PBA and where it seems to be heading.

I wrote an article here:

http://tamerbowling.com/index.php/vent-on-the-state-of-the-pba/

Some highlights:

World Series of Bowling... More than half the current PBA season is bowled in less than 3 weeks. It's in one venue and taped, then aired months later. Does that bother anyone else? It just doesn't seem fair that a "Tour" could have half its season in one venue. So the guys that are hot for 3 weeks and like that venue basically make every show. Kind of sounds like what happened.

There seems to be no money left in it so not sure how it will survive. How can bowling be the most widely played sport in America, yet we can not convert people into viewers. Someone mentioned poker. How can poker generate such interest for a relatively boring game to watch. Is it really that much more interesting than bowling? If so, then the PBA need better producers/directors to liven up the shows. We need more sponsorship.

I think PBA execs need to be held to account. How many years will this go on, or can it go on? In my company, if we lose money, executives are on the chopping block.

Anyway, that's the short story. Check out the article and let me know what you think.

Anybody seeing a light at the end of the tunnel?

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www.tamerbowling.com">www.TamerBowling.com

Everything Bowling, coaching tips, ball reviews, General bowling discussions
USBC Certified Level I

Xx 12 X 300 xX · « **Reply #16 on:** April 19, 2012, 05:43:28 PM »

Not caring has nothing to do with social or economical trends in the world. Not caring has to do with the game not having a soul and barely having a pulse.

People bowl, and they still bowl leagues but there is no more pride in the game. That pride I talked about. It seems like everything in life, this me and only me attitude has brought us all down. We no longer take pride in our fellow bowler, or want to see the game be what it once was.

Pride and wanting to see the sport you participate in be successful has nothing to do with money, economics or social trends. It has to do with you and only you.

If people would take pride in their game, and call the newspapers, call the tv stations, promote the game they like to participate in, it would do wonders. Stand up for your game, be proud of your game and promote your game. One day it could once again be a sport.

Everyone seems to be "ashamed" of bowling. From the proprietors right down to the participants. It's ok to like and have pride in your game. Why let others tell you or influence you otherwise? There is nothing wrong with bowling, and let the world know it.

Edited by Xx 12 X 300 xX on 4/19/2012 at 3:49 PM

kidlost2000 · « **Reply #17 on:** April 19, 2012, 06:01:35 PM »

It isn't a tour, its the PBA west regional event with TV coverage. I lost interest a few years ago and it hasn't come back yet. If you want to grow a sport then take it to the masses live. look at PBA tour schedules up till the early 2000s when it still traveled to cities where people would go watch and you could try growing your fan base with the growth of High School bowlers.

Or move almost every event west of the Rocky Mountains and compete with the NFL on Sundays for most of your season and see how well that goes for your regional circuit.

R.I.P.

PWBA 1960 - 2003

PBA 1958 -

?

"1 of 1."

DON DRAPER · « **Reply #18 on:** April 19, 2012, 06:30:47 PM »

I'm afraid the PBA I used to know is long gone......

TamerBowling · « **Reply #19 on:** April 19, 2012, 06:32:58 PM »

This is one of the main reasons I started TamerBowling.com. I wanted to add something that could raise interest in the game. The youth are exuberant and can still be drawn into the game. There has to be an upside though. They'll get to college and know there's no career in bowling. Look at how many guys went to Wichita State. You can count the successful ones on one hand. It's not because there weren't really good bowlers coming out. There's just not enough money to justify a bowling career.

It's another interesting point you mentioned about being "ashamed" of the sport. In my field of work (major corporate), I rarely find bowlers. We actually had a league, but I was the only "bowler". It seems that bowling hasn't really given itself a reputation to lend itself to "white collar" folks. There's no reason for that. Interestingly, many of the followers of my site and surely visitors to this site are "white collar" folks.

You know I'm thinking...brand something, make it really expensive and people buy it. It could be made in China, but people will still by Ugg boots for 300 bucks! Why can't bowling do something similar. I think it needs to brand itself upmarket like golf. Cost is very reasonable for well-off people to play and it wouldn't have priced itself completely out of the masses.

Someone else mentioned equipment death as a cause for bowling decline. I tell you what, have of the bowlers in Ontario are using balls 5 years old or more! And these are some pretty competitive bowlers. Maybe it's lack of ball death that is putting pro shops out of business... :-)

I don't claim to have the answers and we've mixed bowling with PBA, which I do not believe they are synonymous. Surely they will trend together, but it's not the same. I just know there are many highly qualified business executives and I've been in the corporate world long enough to know that a great executive can turn around a sinking ship. Well, they may need to let the original ship sink, but they build a bigger and better one.

Xx 12 X 300 xX wrote on 4/19/2012 3:43 PM:Not caring has nothing to do with social or economical trends in the world. Not caring has to do with the game not having a soul and barely having a pulse.

People bowl, and they still bowl leagues but there is no more pride in the game. That pride I talked about. It seems like everything in life, this me and only me attitude has brought us all down. We no longer take pride in our fellow bowler, or want to see the game be what it once was.

Pride and wanting to see the sport you participate in be successful has nothing to do with money, economics or social trends. It has to do with you and only you.

If people would take pride in their game, and call the newspapers, call the tv stations, promote the game they like to participate in, it would do wonders. Stand up for your game, be proud of your game and promote your game. One day it could once again be a sport.

Everyone seems to be "ashamed" of bowling. From the proprietors right down to the participants. It's ok to like and have pride in your game. Why let others tell you or influence you otherwise? There is nothing wrong with bowling, and let the world know it.

Edited by Xx 12 X 300 xX on 4/19/2012 at 3:49 PM

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www.tamerbowling.com">www.TamerBowling.com

Everything Bowling, coaching tips, ball reviews, General bowling discussions
USBC Certified Level I

Sunshine n Lollipops · « **Reply #20 on:** April 19, 2012, 07:19:45 PM »

You people crack me up. Proprietors don't have any pride in the game because they won't oil the lanes for practice. What a joke. They do have a business to run and as such they have schedules for times they do something. You want to practice on fresh oil, learn their schedule and find out what time of day they oil the lanes. Ooooooooo, the sport is dying because a center owner won't cater to ME! Give me a break. It's just amazing, can't talk about the PBA without somebody mentioning the USBC, can't talk about USBC without mentioning proprietors. Why is this? Talk about the NFL game on television we don't talk about the NFL itself, we sure as hell don't talk about state of Pop Warner football. The constant bitching about our sport never ceases to amaze me. Somebody on this site has the sig "Shoe up, shut up, and bowl." I suggest more people on here try that.

Don't believe in the Uzi, it just went off in my hand. I, I believe in love.

kidlost2000 · « **Reply #21 on:** April 19, 2012, 08:14:16 PM »

Exactly. Let the PBA die, not our problem. I sure as hell don't care if it does. If I don't like the way a center does business I do elsewhere. If more people take that mind set then the business will change or die as well.

It is your hard earn money, don't give it away. Make them earn your repeat business.

"1 of 1."

TamerBowling · « **Reply #22 on:** April 19, 2012, 10:39:07 PM »

I think most of us don't have a tangible stake in PBA living or dying. It just a shame what's happening. I said at the outset, I wasn't looking specifically to discuss bowling in general.

I for one, enjoy watching top notch bowling on TV. Now, if the current PBA dies, I agree, oh well. A smart person will likely be able to revive it after it's "gone bankrupt", so to speak. It may just come to that because there seems to be too much baggage.

Where's Red Bull when you need them... They seem to sponsor every stupid little thing in sight.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

www.tamerbowling.com">www.TamerBowling.com

Everything Bowling, coaching tips, ball reviews, General bowling discussions
USBC Certified Level I

BrianCRX90 · « **Reply #23 on:** April 21, 2012, 04:24:14 PM »

There will be a light at the end of the tunnel if someone buys the PBA and reforms it. It's got to the point where it's a joke and sick of the DVR mentality that many accept.

BrianCRX90 · « **Reply #24 on:** April 21, 2012, 04:25:42 PM »

Stan wrote on 4/19/2012 9:47 AM:I agree in everything you wrote. Over the years, the PBA has tried many gimicks to revive its telecast. Bowling outdoors, in parking lots and even shopping centers (women). It has been one failed gimick after another. In my opinion, Tom Clark has got to go ! He is the gimick king.

Bringing in Rob Stone to some was good, but was it good for the "sport " of bowling. An announcer making FUN of the sport that he is covering. How many other sports on TV have announcers making fun of that sport. Then the kicker, the PBA actually has a song made dipicting a hambone. The PBA was made a joke and unfortunately it will remain one for a long time.

I alway had a thought. Its hard finding big sponsors. How about finding smaller ones and group them together. For instance, you can have the technology sponsor (IBM, Apple, Microsoft, etc.), cellular sponsor (ATT, Verizon, Sprint, etc.) Vehicles in Motion sponsor (Chevy, Ford, Honda, Nissan, etc.). I think you can see where I am going with this. By smaller, I do not mean size of company, although that would also work, but ones that would provide less money. I feel you have to be more creative and this is only one way.

I wish I had a fix, but I do not. All I can say is change the leadership and showcase the talent in a more professional manner and maybe the sponsors will come back.

Totally agree. Tom Clark is one the reasons the PBA is f'd up!

Smash49 · « **Reply #25 on:** April 21, 2012, 05:10:20 PM »

Ok here is what is killing the sport of bowling and what is killing the PBA.

COST! Automatic scoring, synthetic lanes and sanction lane machines have made the cost of bowling skyrocket. I looked at replacing my scoring 3 years ago. 24 lanes was $135000! I wanted to replace my lanes and put in synthetics. That was another $135000! I did get a deal on my Kegel lane machine at $15000 but new it would have been $25000. Add that to a $5000 a month electric bill, and other bills it cost a fortunto own a center. The A2 pinsetters are close to 50 years old and take a lot of maintain. Pins cost $13 a piece and it takes 21 to run a machine correctly. Figure having 2 sets and rotating. If you subtract the scoring and the synthetics that would really drop the cost but people would quit bowling because they can't do math anymore!

Now the PBA! It cost a fortune to host a tour stop. Take a look at what it takes to put one on! Phone lines, bleachers, generators, lack of league revenue etc. etc. How many people actually get to watch the finals? 250 after a week of work. Compare to NHL hockey, 2 games at home in a week maybe 3? 50000 people in the stands. Travel cost?

Another factor is the sport patterns. Normal league bowlers do not bowl on them and have little interest. They watch the pros miss spares and struggle and many have no idea why. Oh some say it is much more difficult! To what degree the casual bowler does not know or care. If the pros are the best give them the house shot for most tournaments and make a special tournament for sport shot every once in a while. Let the pros blow the walls out. The scores across the board should change. Facts are the people that should be watching pro bowling on tv are the casual or league bowlers. Serious amateurs there are currently not enough of and some will watch but bowling needs the masses.

How many different 1 to 4 year sponsors has the PBA had? Even Barbersol has to wonder. Baby Ruth, Denny's?

The tour? Six Flags over Somewhere or gee we are in Vegas again! And the tour has no real stars anymore. Belmo, Rash and Weber just aren't doing it like Earl, Mark and Marshall.

Smash49

Slick, tacky, wood or synthetic it does not matter your slide is correct with SLSM Designs Bowlers Slide Sock. The Finest Slide Sock on the Planet!!!
www.bowlersslidesock.com
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TamerBowling · « **Reply #26 on:** April 21, 2012, 06:20:47 PM »

I'm sorry but "cost" is too simple an answer. If that's the case, then you can make that argument for many sports but that's just not true. We have millions less bowlers and my guess is it has more to do with interest than it does cost. Cost wouldn't be an issue if you had the same number of bowlers from the 70s. I think cost is just something that stands out due to lack of revenue.

Professional teams (owners and localities) spend 100s of millions on new stadiums. It used to be fractions of that. Obviously, they spend because there's revenue.

The issues you mentioned is only there because the revenue is not there. For the PBA, they need to do something better in terms of branding and marketing. The PBA is a brand after all and it has been dragged through the mud. It has no star power, although there are many bowlers with potential star power. Earl, Mark, etc. bowled in the glory days of bowling. I don't think it's fair to say Belmo and others don't compare. Of course they don't. The PBA is in a very poor state compared to when Earl and Dick were bowling.

Take a look at this article about comeback brands.

http://www.cnbc.com/id/46967395

Look at the companies that were in the tank or filed for bankruptcy and came back. Just to highlight a few companies, Old Spice, Polaroid, Muppets, and Dr. Martens. These are all companies that had a strong brand, then people lost interest. They found ways to bring the business back. These all must have had executives who really understood what it would take to bring them "back from the dead"...and maybe some luck. This is what the PBA needs. It needs a kind of revival. It's not going to come by living in the past.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

www.tamerbowling.com">www.TamerBowling.com

Everything Bowling, coaching tips, ball reviews, General bowling discussions
USBC Certified Level I

Smash49 · « **Reply #27 on:** April 22, 2012, 12:59:06 AM »

Cost is a big part and I agree peoples interest is another. There are a lot of things trying to get the entertainment dollar. It comes down to value and convenience. At one point watching a video at home gained more interest. It was cheaper to do also. Now kids according to the news do not read papers or want cars. The news says they would rather stay at home and do Facebook. There are a lot of problems with the sport/game of bowling. The list is long and it's going to take a lot to fix it. Currently very few people are interested in fixing it but would rather just sit and ride the current status to survive. Currently there is only 1 bowling center in the city limits of Dallas. A city of 1.2 million people. I can think of 10 centers that have closed up in Dallas alone, not counting suburbs.

With the lack of interest the PBA suffers. A few years ago I had a discussion with Brad Angelo about the exempt PBA. I told him I was tired of seeing Walter Ray every week. He made a good point, Walter Ray earned the spot. Watching the same people every week got boring. I tried to figure it out because I watch the Cowboys, Rangers, etc every week. The PBA lost me win they bowled with Bugs Bunny! Bowling had lack of purpose. There seems to be no reason for the PBA. It's just like 4 guys bowling.

Smash49

Slick, tacky, wood or synthetic it does not matter your slide is correct with SLSM Designs Bowlers Slide Sock. The Finest Slide Sock on the Planet!!!
www.bowlersslidesock.com
IBPSIA Certified Technician
Bowlers Journal International's Top 100 Coaches!!! 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010(73),2011(84)
USBC Register Volunteer

BruceKaratz · « **Reply #28 on:** April 22, 2012, 09:32:33 PM »

Let me be up front. I love bowling and I love to watch the PBA but bowling is pretty (*very) boring to watch for most people. There's a lot of channels, a lot of sporting events, the internet, and whatever else is going on in people's lives to make it easy to not pay attention to the tour. Then on top of that I have to sign up for PBA XTRA frame to see some of the tournaments (too much work for this guy, and I'm one who loves the PBA). It's too much work to watch the tournaments and many of us already know the tournament outcomes. They cheapened the sport by doing the WSOB all at the same time and same place and then putting out the telecasts over time (you do what you have to do though because it is a business after all). In my opinion, I actually like the current top dogs on the tour because you're seeing some of the old guys still on top which is excellent and the newer guys are starting to mature and make more and more telecasts. I honestly can't say that Randy Pedersen is the best announcer in my opinion. I believe I like Bo Burton, Gary Thorne, or Dave Ryan better, because they lended more class to event in my opinion. Also, I liked Rob Stone but I think he was the designated "cool guy" and he resorted to belittling the game at times.

The telecasts probably suck more than they should too because they probably reduce the production costs to make 'em cheap. When I watch a telecast, they talk about the pattern, but they never really show me or the average man the difference between the patterns and how it changes the ball motion and etc, etc. Also, they never delve into the science of each bowler's shot on the telecast, and show me what is really going on to make each player unique. Give me some close ups of their footwork, their hand at release, and then give me some pointers on integrating these things into my game. They talk about how difficult the game is and how little changes and adjustments matter, but that is all they do...they just talk, but don't really show me much.

Also, I can't say that the viewer would care but we never get to know the player or their families.

My bowling center doesn't have any marketing material for the PBA tour - no posters of players, no schedule of tour stops, and if you think about it, I know there are pros that come by my town on road trips, but they never stop and bowl in town (I thought that was something the old legends might have done). The telecasts don't have any cool advertisements enticing parents to get their kids into leagues because they can just drop them off, there are no rain outs or weather delays, and it's good clean exercise and competition or that adults can show up to your league and enter brackets (gambling, woot woot!). It's like the game need to advertise it's self for the family all the way down to dirty old drunk men lol. There's room for everyone in bowling and that is what makes it great. When they do try to market leagues or USBC, it's just really lame video.

One aspect that I personally think is cool is that in history bowling was a big gambler's sport. If the PBA is gonna continue to suck, why not just create a gambling bowling tour? I'm not saying this is a great idea but it might add a little more flavor and excitement to the game, but then again might create a black eye for it too. I guess bowling has tried to make itself more clean and family friendly though.

These are just my random thoughts though.

icefiction · « **Reply #29 on:** April 22, 2012, 09:45:48 PM »

The problem is that what everyone said is true. You can pick apart any organization and find their faults. As for the shoe up and shut up attitude that some want; you leave out those who have no desire to compete at that level but still wish to see their favorite stars hit the lanes, these are your tride and true fans and you should never over look these people. If you take the history approach and move back to how competitive bowling got its start than the bowlers themselves would be governed by themselves. Maybe not a bad idea if they have some other advisors and office people on hand to help with the financials and technical workings of the pba as business. My only advice would be that of my favorite coach in college, if something isn't working out for you, you need to change something to get a different result. If the pba at least makes an effort to change something each year to see if it works, than at least they are trying.

Juggernaut · « **Reply #30 on:** April 22, 2012, 11:51:36 PM »

There is no way to ever figure out why bowling is seemingly dying, because it isn't any ONE thing that is causing it to decline as it has, it is a confluence of forces, culminating to cause the demise.

From technological advances changing the game into a totally different form that is only remotely recognizable, to the societal changes that have caused millions to go elsewhere to find their recreational activities, many MANY things have come into play.

You have the cost, but not just the cost to participate, but also the cost of the owners just to keep the place up and running. Long gone are the days of mopping a small amount of oil on the heads three times a week and people manually keeping score. Gone are the days of buying a $75 ball and having it last for decades, or simply having one ball that hooks and one that doesn't.

Gone are the days of bored people sitting at home, wishing for something to do. They can now sit right there on their couch and play games, watch movies, or even travel the world on the internet. They aren't going out and searching for something to do, they are staying home and having entertainment come to them.

Bowling costs money, takes time, and is even something you have to "go to the trouble" to do. People are inherently lazy and, unless they really LOVE something, they would usually rather stay home and have something come to them..

My grandmother used to ask me "Why did mohammed go to the mountain", and the answer was "Because the mountain wouldn't come to him". People used to go to the entertainment, because it wouldn't come to them then, but now it DOES come to them. Bowling used to be one of those destinations, but with people staying home more and more, bowling is just going downhill, and interest in it at ANY level is dwindling away.

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"The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits."
Albert Einstein
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