Here's part of the problem. As a member of mass media, I work for NBC, the real problem as I am told by my higher ups is that bowlers aren't marketing themselves correctly.
You would be amazed at the interest bowling receives from the media, IE the clash of champions to be aired on CBS coming up. But the simple fact that there is some athletic talent to bowling, more so than auto racing but less than football or basketball.
Here's the sad truth to it all, from our perspective at least. By "our" I mean major news and sports affiliates, not personally mine but I am associated with the group. Example: You invite a news station to come to observe the talents of a tournament the is in progress, this being a slow news weekend so we have time to try to fish up a local story, perfect opportunity to promote the sport. Cameras show up to look for some real good action, about 85% of the time upon arrival, you see some good action going on, but at the same time you look over and see the PARTICIPANTS not just spectators drinking beer, smoking, looking very unprofessional, snacking on chili cheese fries, burgers, and what not.
Do other athletes do this? not to the extent, but yes. On our professional tour there are rules to alcohol and food consumption during competition, but once that's over they can remove their name shirt and peruse the concourse beer in hand and "blend in to the crowd". Other sports when attending public functions are required to represent the brand in a positive way or face penalties by their governing body. While not forced to dress a certain way IE some NBA players dress in, what most of the upper levels of society consider, gang attire, they are representing a popular clothing brand (nike, reebok, and one etc.) that often promotes their brand with the sport.
NASCAR, MLB, FIFA, all the same. It's partially a status thing with how much other professionals make as opposed to what our professionals make. But at the same time, those athletes make more money because of the market they perform in. Stadiums where owners sell a massive number of seats, promotional details, merchandise, and market their stars through commercials and events. Bowling has venues that they sales seats for shows, but not enough where it increases the value of the bowler by increasing the prize fund. And with one 1 1/2 hr show a week, it's impossible to showcase all of the talent.
I'm not speaking for the ESPN broadcasters, they do walk around smug and sometimes undeserved sense of self accomplishment. And honestly it would do the PBA some good to get off the ABC family of networks. It's time to get onto a network that would appreciate the sport and spend some better time promoting it. The commercials on ESPN are rediculous. I laugh when people say they like them because the general public finds them to be rather annoying and a little elitist to a sport where no one outside of the sport really knows who you are. I'm talking about the Spare Thoughts commercials that don't even use the real voices of the bowlers they are portraying.
To get to point, there is a reason why bowling is snickered at, and it's mainly because of the image being portrayed by it's own member. Bowlers are not satisfied with anything. We generally dislike Rob Stone who has indeed brought a new attitude to the show in a non-negative manner. We don't like high scoring easy patterns but at the same time don't want to watch the guys shoot at spares all day. We don't like Pete Weber, his excitement, crotch chop, or vocalizations. We don't like watching boring Walter Ray Williams. We make fun of a guy who puts himself in position to win every week because he makes mental mistakes. We don't like the technological advances in the same which every sport has had some advances to make the game easier.
It's hard to seriously promote a sport where it's members rip it apart more than non-members do. And it's beating a dead horse, but if you want to gain respect in media, we need to gain some respect for ourselves.
Sorry for the rant.
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Justin Buford
