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Author Topic: Prize Money in 2006 - 2007  (Read 1170 times)

Pinbuster

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Prize Money in 2006 - 2007
« on: October 20, 2006, 03:43:50 AM »
Me being snoopy/anal and all I did a little research.

Last year a normal tournament had a prize fund of $232,000.

This year a normal tournament has a prize fund of $182,000.
First place reduced from $40,000 to $25,000. Last place reduced to $1800 from $2000.

This year the World Championship has a prize fund of $250,000 down from $400,000 last year.

I wonder if the winners at the World championship has been reduced from $100,000 to what, $50,000?

The Tournament of champions had a prize fund last year $230,000 this year $176,000.

The Masters is still paying $100,000 for first and the prize fund for the US Open is up $25,000 to $375,000.

With half the majors prize funds going down with most likely a drop in the first place checks it looks like Walter Rays single season money record will be safe for several years into the future.

Once again it is not a good time to be a pro bowler if you want to make a living.


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Gene J Kanak

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Re: Prize Money in 2006 - 2007
« Reply #1 on: October 20, 2006, 11:57:18 AM »
Well, I think it's going to be the same as it has been: the top-flight guys will do OK, but the medium to lower-tier exempt players (not talking in terms of skill level, as they're all very talented, just talking in terms of making shows and $$) will struggle a bit. I mean, wasn't the minimum exempt player take something like 32K before expenses last season? Now that goes down, moving it back into the 20s. I'd love to make 20K plus for bowling, but that does not a living make.

But, look on the flipside, if the PBA continued to pay out too much, eventually it would go broke and the guys would have no tour at all. It sucks for them that the $$ has been cut, but at least there's something. I just think they need to go back to the open field format. Let amateurs enter for real each week. Higher entries means higher prize funds, plus it allows new faces to creep in from time to time. Don't get me wrong; I think the exempt tour was a neat idea, in theory, but it just hasn't panned out the way that was envisioned. Oh well, few things ever do.
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shelley

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Re: Prize Money in 2006 - 2007
« Reply #2 on: October 20, 2006, 12:11:57 PM »
It does suck that a professional bowler who puts just as much (if not more) time, effort, and passion into his game as a pro football, basketball, or baseball player only makes a few tens of thousands of dollars while the others are often starting in the million-dollar range.

However, keep in mind that these guys are not on tour year round.  The season is down to about 24 weeks, less than half the year.  The other six months they're hardly sitting on their butts.  Last year's $32K for last place (every week) isn't half bad when you consider it's six months of work.  There are a lot of places you could live comfortably, perhaps not lavishly, on $50-60K per year.

It's still pittance for the amount of skill they have compared to many other pro sports.  But not the soup kitchen poor house we think.

SH
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Pinbuster

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Re: Prize Money in 2006 - 2007
« Reply #3 on: October 20, 2006, 12:18:56 PM »
But it takes a minimum of $20k to follow the tour full time and most will spend $25 to $30k on entries, travel expense, rooms, etc.

So the guy making $30K is barely breaking even 6 months of the year.

Yes it is only six months but how good of a job can you have that lets you disappear half the year?

Most bowl will bowl some regionals, do some odd jobs, maybe work part time in a bowling center. But the off season isn’t very lucrative except for a few of the stars on staff.

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bowl400

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Re: Prize Money in 2006 - 2007
« Reply #4 on: October 20, 2006, 01:26:06 PM »
if every pba final were to be set up in a basketball arena with say 15,000 attending at $25.00 each, $375000 to the prize fund (less the expense of setting up the lanes, less cost if set up without lane setting equipment as the ladies had in las vegas or the recent teen masters).  arena makes money on parking, food, beer, etc.  of course, this assumes that each tour stop has 15,000 people willing to attend at $25.00 each.  there is a reason why all of the major sports participants make the big $$$, people are willing to pay to see the best there is at their particular sport.
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AmfTrack

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Re: Prize Money in 2006 - 2007
« Reply #5 on: October 20, 2006, 01:34:37 PM »
Mike Devaney posted on myspace.com in his blog about the reduced prize fund, he said he will def. be pursuing another career choice very soon.
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DON DRAPER

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Re: Prize Money in 2006 - 2007
« Reply #6 on: October 21, 2006, 10:57:03 AM »
first place in the tournament of champions is now $60,000---down from $100,000. first place in the pba world championship is $50,000----down from $120,000. the reason the prize fund and the first place check are the same in the usbc masters is that it's not a pba event---it's a usbc event. the money for the us open hasn't changed because the bpaa( bowling proprietors association of america ) runs the event.

the pba is trying to find sponsors who haven't jumped on the pga or nascar bandwagon.
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mumzie

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Re: Prize Money in 2006 - 2007
« Reply #7 on: October 21, 2006, 05:04:27 PM »
Entry fees and ticket sales for bowling events do not pay the bills at the professional level, and they never will.
Arena finals for pro bowling is a great idea - and 15,000 seats sold every week will help. But that's 1 stadium a week for 24 weeks. Not 20 stadiums ever week, several times a week, for more than 6 months (like the NBA).

The PGA has way more than one level of competition - the PBA has two - regionals, and national exempt players.

I don't have a clue what the answer is, but until bowling can clear up it's "image" as a recreational pasttime, instead of a real sport, it's going to suffer. One individual I talked with last week felt that competitive bowling only has about 15 years left.
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