Post by: jkiser01 on March 04, 2012, 10:50:09 AM
I know this has been brought up before, but I guess I never noticed the pitiful prize funds until today.
I was just looking through some bowler stats on PBA.com and noticed this for Mika for the 2011-12 season:
11 events 7 cashes $15,465.00 money earned
Is this for real?? He has cashed in 7 tournaments for only 15 grand. That is pitiful prize money. I am sure that amount earned has barely covered his expenses. I know he is on staff with Ebonite, but wow.
I also noticed a HUGE drop off from last year when he earned $333,000. That is a huge difference in 1 season.
NOTE: I put spoiler on it because Mike bowl's today in the taped WSOB event.
My first child.. Hannah Allison Kiser 4 years old and my little angel!!
DV8-Damn good bowling balls!!
DV8-Damn good bowling balls!!
I also like AMF/900 Global..
Post by: Impending Doom on March 04, 2012, 11:48:16 AM
*Inventor of the FIBJAM*
The sky is falling
The end is near
The final warning
The sun disappears.
My arsenal
Post by: xrayjay on March 04, 2012, 11:51:51 AM
I make more than him in 11 weeks and still not enough to pay everything off.. The PBA is tough job to have, their players passion runs deep to stick to this career choice.
Tag Team Coaching Success Story 
AKA: addik
Post by: Juggernaut on March 04, 2012, 03:36:10 PM
You cannot give away what you do not have. The PBA does not have money.
Years ago, bowling was seen in a different light. It was seen as a popular activity that several million people participated in regularly, so the prospect of good sponsors and decent money was not too hard to come by.
BUT, in the ensuing years, bowlings popularity has dwindled at the same time that the economy started shrinking. Both situations made sponsors re-think their investings, and many of them have pulled away from bowling, preferring to put their money where it will do the maximum effect.
More and more sponsors have left, taking their money with them. They were a large part of where the PBA got money for prize funds, so prize funds have suffered, and professional bowling has continued to fall into decline.
There IS a point of no return. When that is reached, the PBA will cease to exist.
Post by: hatehvyoil on March 04, 2012, 03:37:07 PM
IMHO the open show was epic because it was actually a live event. One of few this year
Post by: kidlost2000 on March 04, 2012, 06:35:01 PM
"1 of 1."
Post by: JOE FALCO on March 04, 2012, 07:35:34 PM
Long ago there was a decision made .. bring a lot of bowlers in for a low price OR few bowlers in for a high price .. they chose to make the big money then .. now the game is suffering!
Post by: Easy10pins on March 04, 2012, 09:59:15 PM
Post by: Sunshine n Lollipops on March 05, 2012, 06:47:27 AM
Once again, somebody enraged about what somebody else is making?
When are you going to understand that as it is done now, bowling on tv has all the cachet and draw of World's Strongest Man or Lumberjack Skills competition? Very small audience. Small audience, small sponsors, small prizes?
When are you going to understand that until the PBA can attract sponsors like AC Delco, Budwieser, maybe get the ball companies to pony up some big bucks, as they did in the past, the prize fund will be low?
When are you going to understand that it seems no matter what the PBA tries to do to save money, ie, have the WSOB in one place, tape delay the show, have cheerleaders and vezulas in the stands, you diehard "fans" will bitch and complain?
When are you going to understand that a lot of professional bowlers have "moved on" and don't bowl anymore?
Don't believe in the Uzi, it just went off in my hand. I, I believe in love.
Post by: neverbackdown_x7x on March 05, 2012, 06:58:12 AM
I do agree that bigger sponsors might help financially. But despite all the doom and gloom attitudes I've read lately on here, I would rather see some of these die-hard bowling fans on here come up with solutions rather than writing a eulogy on something we all grew up watching. Maybe I'm one of the very few that's still optimistic that the PBA will make a turnaround, but I hope that others still feel the same way.
Post by: Impending Doom on March 05, 2012, 09:47:17 AM
*Inventor of the FIBJAM*
The sky is falling
The end is near
The final warning
The sun disappears.
My arsenal
Post by: completebowler on March 05, 2012, 10:02:21 AM
I agree. And it is all about marketing. The PBA guys have no idea how to appeal to the masses. There is more money in bass fishing...lol. And fishing is free once you buy a pole and some lures.
The B.A.S.S. Bassmaster series is the highest paying professional tournament series. The schedule consists of 31 tournaments of varying degrees of competition across the U.S. between the months of February and November. In 2011 the largest single B.A.S.S. tournament prize went to seven-time Bassmaster champion Kevin VanDamm, who won $500,000 in the Bassmaster Classic --the largest prize ever for the tournament. Typical Bassmaster tournaments at the highest level of competition (Elite) pay around $100,000 for a first-place finish, $25,000 for second place, $20,000 for third place, with prize money diminishing for lower placing fisherman thereafter.
The top career money earner has made $5.8 million or so....They don't have the big corporate sponsors. What they do have though is tons and tons of support from the fising industry.
Where are the captains of the bowling industry? They need to figure this out and soon or else we will see the end of the sport of bowling and it will simply be a passtime recreation for most.
ALL STAR BOWLING & TROPHY
LANGAN'S ALL STAR LANES
IBPSIA MEMBER
WALLED LAKE MI
LANGAN'S ALL STAR LANES
IBPSIA MEMBER
WALLED LAKE MI
Post by: Spider Man on March 05, 2012, 11:48:31 AM
I'm asking b/c I don't know: Did the BASS Masters every pay to be on a cable channel - like the PBA does with the 4-letter network? That would be a fine issue to explore first.
Moreover, fishing pros have always had their own instructional / fun shows since cable TV exploded. And those are sponsored by the industry. Interesting analogy, CB.
!
Edited by Spider Man on 3/5/2012 at 10:51 AM
Post by: completebowler on March 05, 2012, 03:02:22 PM
Here is another one Spider. A customer and myself were comparing it to golf recently and we were wondering...why haven't all the powers that be in bowling get together and create their own network?
I'm no expert on cable networks but I know there are some out there that seem to me would have exceptionally lower viewership than BowlTV would. Add in lessons, classic matches, historical documentaries for the avid viewer..etc., etc. I'm sure there would be other programming that could catch on.
Get the ball companies to do commercials (they would have a commited audience at that point), they could do ball release shows and advertise day and time that they will be showing off the new stuff. Seems that would be cheaper than having the pro's tour around the country like they do in the summer.
Put camera's behind every lane and televise a couple hour highlight show every night of the Open Championships during that tournament. Women's bowling, HS and College meets....you name it. The international market is untouched at this point...let's get those guys on TV too.
Now, I'm not sure how much this would cost. Obviously, many of these events are already filmed but at a lower quality in many instances. So upgrades would be necessary in the production quality of some to be better for viewing. Then the network would have to be set up and pitched to cable carriers and however all that works.
But it seems to me that every entity would have a huge stake in wanting this to be successful. USBC, PBA, BPAA, WIBC, TNBA, IBPSIA, WTBC...just to name a few. What are the collective profits of all of these associations? Is there enough to spare and invest in something that should undoubtedly grow the game?
Would the top coaches donate their time to put lessons on film in order to possibly grow their name and therefore their client base? Would Mo Pinel or other industry experts do shows on Pro Shop techniques? We have the ITC now so that would be a great place to set up quite a bit of the filming of the filler programming.
Sorry...don't mean to hijack the thread. I'm gonna copy and paste this to it's own topic...would like to see a commited conversation to this idea. Maybe some industry insiders can chime in with their two cents. Maybe this was attempted and I missed it.
ALL STAR BOWLING & TROPHY
LANGAN'S ALL STAR LANES
IBPSIA MEMBER
WALLED LAKE MI
LANGAN'S ALL STAR LANES
IBPSIA MEMBER
WALLED LAKE MI
Post by: Stickythumbhole on March 05, 2012, 04:20:20 PM
Obviously......
Post by: HangingBananas on March 05, 2012, 05:06:06 PM
i think a lot of you guys are forgetting how Mika made that much last year.
275,000 of that came from the ToC (250,000 for 1st) and the US Open (25,000 for 2nd)
Mika hasn't made a major telecast yet, with respect to the ToC around the corner. '
All things aside, you are totally right jkiser. 7 out of 11 cashes and only $15k is like a slap in the face to him and to bowling...we do need bigger sponsors but with the awful media coverage that it gets only when we act out of the norm (aka Josh Blanchard and Pete Weber) bowling is dying a very quick and painful death
"106 miles to Chicago, we got a full tank of gas, half a pack of cigarettes, it's dark and we're wearing sunglasses....hit it." -Jake and Elwood
Post by: completebowler on March 05, 2012, 05:15:09 PM
Actually as I keep researching the idea I found that the Golf Channell was launched by raising $80 million dollars in 1995. A guy got Arnold Palmer on board and went looking for investors.
With social media as a tool today as well as quite a few devoted websites as this one I could see raising the funds to be quite a bit easier than it was back then. 95,000,000 bowlers worldwide...how many have internet access?
ALL STAR BOWLING & TROPHY
LANGAN'S ALL STAR LANES
IBPSIA MEMBER
WALLED LAKE MI
LANGAN'S ALL STAR LANES
IBPSIA MEMBER
WALLED LAKE MI
Post by: Fresh n Clean on March 05, 2012, 05:24:20 PM
How about changing the telecast schedule so that it is not competing with the NFL. I think that they would do well to move the schedule to start the week after the superbowl when the casual fan is looking for something to watch.
Fresh Out
Rolling:
Roto Grip Mutant Cell
Roto Grip Nomad DaggerRolling:
Roto Grip Mutant Cell
Brunswick Inferno
Hammer Black Widow Solid
Post by: BrianCRX90 on March 10, 2012, 02:54:50 PM
Agreed on the time. I wish it would move to anything really. I kind of liked it on Tuesday nights back in the early 00s. There was only like 6 of these tournaments in 2001 but the time slot was great as there was nothing else on a Tuesday and the live atmosphere at night was great. The PBA can call whatever this is a tour but is anything but. I'd love to fold the WOB or limit it and get some real tours with real live tournaments and real prize funds.
Post by: Sunshine n Lollipops on March 11, 2012, 03:30:45 PM
Nobody really gives a crap about what you think after you're total B.S. move of listing tourney winners without a spoiler warning and your classless act trying to get a reduction in cost of bowling by trying to scam the counter person about being a league bowler in that house and then claiming you thought you qualified because you're a sanctioned bowler in other leagues in other houses and "that's what your USBC card is for". You're a classless, lying jerk.
Don't believe in the Uzi, it just went off in my hand. I, I believe in love.
Post by: tommyboy74 on March 11, 2012, 10:01:09 PM
+1 with what Sunshine n Lollipops said. Total douchebag move by scamming the counter and giving spoilers without giving a spoiler warning.
My Arsenal (as of February 2012)
Heavy Oil: Roto Grip Defiant: 3000 AB
Medium-Heavy Oil: Track 919C: 3000 AB
Medium-Heavy Oil: Ebonite Vital Energy: 4000 AB
Heavy Oil: Roto Grip Defiant: 3000 AB
Medium-Heavy Oil: Track 919C: 3000 AB
Medium-Heavy Oil: Ebonite Vital Energy: 4000 AB
Medium Oil: Track 505T: 4000 AB
Medium-Light Oil: Hammer Brick: 2000 polished