In a landmark partnership between bowling organizations, the Professional Bowlers Association and Bowling Proprietors’ Association of America have announced that GoBowling.com will be the umbrella sponsor of the Go Bowling! PBA Tour between December 2017 and July 2018, with an option to renew for an additional year.
The partnership was announced by BPAA Executive Director Frank DeSocio, BPAA President Nancy Schenk and PBA CEO and Commissioner Tom Clark at Bowl Expo.
As part of the agreement, The Go Bowling! PBA Tour will be showcased on 18 ESPN telecasts, beginning with programming from the GEICO PBA World Series of Bowling IV in Reno in December, and extending through next July to include five CBS Sports Network telecasts. Additionally, The Go Bowling! PBA Tour will have a significant presence on at least eight PBA Xtra Frame Tour events in 2018, all of which will be live-streamed exclusively via PBA’s online bowling channel.
“This partnership gives GoBowling.com a full-year marketing platform to talk to bowlers and non-bowlers through the PBA Tour,” DeSocio said.
“The more people who go bowling, the more we all benefit,” Schenk added. “That’s what we’re looking to achieve.”
GoBowling.com, created by BPAA as the go-to website for millions of Americans looking for a place to go bowling, was recently revamped to provide a stronger connection between bowlers young and old, novice or professional, worldwide, providing news, tips, videos, contests and promotional offers as well as the sport’s most comprehensive guide to help people find information about more than 1,800 BPAA-member bowling centers across America.
“Working together with GoBowling.com, Strike Ten Entertainment and BPAA bowling centers to promote the PBA is great for the game and illustrates positive bowling industry unity,” Clark said. “We appreciate Frank DeSocio, Nancy Schenk and the entire board’s shared vision that investing in the PBA and promoting the sport together will make for a spectacular year.
“The PBA is experiencing an electrifying surge of young talent while the greats of the game continue to contend from event to event, making for interesting events and historic accomplishments on the lanes,” Clark added. “We can’t wait to get started.”
As part of the partnership, the Go Bowling! message will receive a wide variety of additional benefits, including:
- Commercial spots, billboards and signage during PBA telecasts and on all Xtra Frame events.
- Title sponsorship for two PBA Tour events to be determined, plus presenting sponsorship of the 2018 Chris Paul CP3 Celebrity Invitational.
- Sponsorship of a PBA League team.
- Logo identification on six top PBA Tour players.
- Introduction of a new Go Bowling! fan engagement segment during each telecast.
- Extensive exposure to mainstream news media and PBA’s global social media audience through all aspects of the PBA Network.
Another special benefit will be a subscription to PBA’s Xtra Frame online video service to any BPAA-member bowling center that requests one, courtesy of Strike Ten Entertainment. The pre-paid subscriptions will allow participating bowling centers to provide their customers with hundreds of hours of exclusive programming, including preliminary rounds of all PBA and PWBA Tour events, start-to-finish coverage of the PBA50 Tour and PBA Xtra Frame Tour tournaments, and much more.
At BPAA’s option, the Go Bowling! PBA Tour program may be renewed for an additional year.
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