A lot of you guys clearly are not in tune with the state of the PBA. The World Series of Bowling was as much a necessity as a choice. It will save the PBA several hundred thousand dollars, a necessity considering the PBA's economic state and the the overall economy. There are lots of downsides to it, for sure, but all pale in comparison to NOT HAVING A PBA.
As for TV ratings, they have shown to be unaffected by whether shows are taped or live -- that mostly impacts hardcore fans who mostly watch whether they know the outcome or not.
Taping all the shows in the short time frame is the primary way they save money -- it costs tens of thousands of dollars to take down and move and put back up the ESPN stage every week.
You guys gotta look at the big picture and it's all about $$$$$$
Also, PBA does see a lot of benefits to the WSOB -- execs statements have been widely reported so I won't repeat them.
The commish did have an interesting recent interview.
http://77square.com/sweat/blog/frame11/entry_454788(I am not saying I agree with everything I wrote here -- if I was still on Tour there's a lot about the WSOB that would stink, but I understand why the PBA is doing what it is doing -- the potential alternative of no PBA is much worse.)
