As a fan, I understand what you are saying, but I don't think many of you understand the realities out there. I do not know near as much as Riggs when it comes to the PBA, but I do know a few things that are being overlooked.
You complain about the PBA being on Sundays against the NFL. That is not the PBA's doing. ESPN put it there for 2 reasons, 1) so it didn't have to try to find programming to put up against the NFL and 2) for being against the NFL, bowling draws the biggest ratings of anything else it could put there. That being said, the ratings aren't huge, as one would expect going up against the NFL. ESPN has a packed primetime line-up already. The Tuesday nights where bowling used to be on, is now the WSOP.
You also complain about the PBA having online only tournaments. Well remember, the PBA has to pay ESPN to broadcast it's product. They save that money when they broadcast online. If the tour was close to breaking even, that is money that theoretically could go into the prize funds of these tournaments. I think this is also part of the reason, along the with national economy issues, that the PBA doesn't tour all over the country anymore. Having to pay to move the TV equipment from coast to coast, as well as paying for their TV time, not a profitable idea.
And as far as the changes....while I am not a fan of all of them, I understand why they did it. The hardcore bowlers of the world, aren't going to be enough of a TV audience anymore. The PBA had to try to find a way to get the casual bowlers, the handicap mixed league bowler, the once or twice a month open bowler, etc, to tne into the shows. So they tried ideas that might catch their interest. If you look at it in that respect, you can't fault them for doing it. If they could have shown an increase in veiwers, they could have some bargaining power, either with ESPN or maybe another network so that they could get away from having to pay for TV time. Even if it ESPN let them have it for free (not paying the PBA money like it does for NFL and other sports get) it would be a huge win for the PBA.
And lastly, remember the World Series of Bowling came about for a few reasons. One was to cut down on travel costs for the bowlers, they could come to one place for a span of time and bowl many tournaments, while the economy was so bad and travel costs so high. It was also done, imho, to capitalize on the popularity of the WSOP. And it cut down on the overhead costs for the PBA to produce the TV shows, again because of the economy and the fact that the PBA was losing money. When you are in the Red, you have to find ways to either cut costs or generate more revenue. I think they hoped the WSOB would do both.
