New Andy B’s Coming to Missouri’s Branson Landing
Andy B’s Entertainment & Bowling Centers has announced that a new location will be coming to Missouri’s Branson Landing next summer.
“We believe the Branson Landing will be a great fit to bring our brand of bowling and entertainment to the area,” said Andy Bartholomy, owner of Andy B’s Entertainment & Bowling Centers.
Andy B’s will occupy a 19,000-sq.-ft. building with boutique bowling, lane-side service, a restaurant with chef-driven eats, a social bar and patio serving local draft favorites and handcrafted cocktails, plus other social attractions to be announced.
The new center will be designed to offer fun for all ages, serving as a destination for family dining and entertainment, group and corporate events, and nightlife.
This new Andy B’s location will be bringing approximately 50 new jobs to the area, with a plan to hire friendly, outgoing team members and managers.
The Branson Landing combines shopping, dining and entertainment, with more than 100 specialty stores, restaurants, Branson condos and more. It’s located on Branson Landing Boulevard on Lake Taneycomo, next to Historic Downtown Branson.
Millennials Focus of Bowling Summit Presentation
By 2025, millennials will make up 75% of the working world. Are bowling centers — and other companies in the bowling business — ready?
As both a millennial herself and someone who has employed hundreds of millennials, Kristen Hadeed has a unique perspective on what it will take to groom — and retain — the next generation of leaders.
Hadeed’s company, Student Maid, is a cleaning service that hires only students, and has a retention rate that beats the industry average by a landslide. A departure from the stereotypical status quo, Student Maid’s millennial employees excel in relationship-building, are confident problem-solvers, can handle constructive feedback, and are highly invested — even though cleaning dirty toilets is in their job description.
Despite the unglamorous work, millennials are lining up to be a part of Student Maid because of the company’s promise to help them become successful.
Hadeed will share her experience with millennials at BPAA’s Bowling Summit, to be held Jan. 14-18 at the Phoenix Marriott Tempe at The Buttes in Arizona. The Summit is a strategic mid-winter conference for bowling center proprietors, managers and bowling business leaders to network and learn from top business professionals.
For registration information, go to: http://bpaa.com/bowlingsummit.
PBA Inaugurates Award to Honor Don Carano
Tobias Börding, a third-year Professional Bowlers Association member from Puccheim, Germany, has been named winner of the inaugural PBA Don Carano WSOB Award in recognition of his performance in the GEICO PBA World Series of Bowling IX, presented by Eldorado Reno Resorts Properties.
The new award, created by the PBA, honors the memory of the late Don Carano and his entire family for their long-time support of the PBA. It is a tribute to Carano’s life-long pursuit of personal improvement, and specifically applies to Börding as the player who showed the greatest improvement in PBA World Championship qualifying from 2016 to 2017.
Last year, Börding finished World Championship qualifying in 121st place. This year, he finished qualifying in 28th place, moving up 93 positions in the standings.
As the winner of the inaugural award, Börding will receive a premium bottle of wine from the Carano family winery, dinner for two at Carano’s La Strada Ristorante and complimentary lodging at one of the Carano family’s Eldorado Reno Resorts — the Eldorado Resort Casino, Silver Legacy Resort Casino or Circus Circus Reno Hotel & Casino — for the 2018 PBA World Series of Bowling X.
The PBA Don Carano WSOB Award will be presented in future World Series of Bowling events conducted in Reno.
Carano, patriarch of the Carano family that was integral in the building of the National Bowling Stadium and the development of Reno’s Tri-Properties, died on Oct. 3 at age 85.
H2M Management, Ebonite Renew Sponsorship Deal
H2M Management, an Indianapolis-based bowling tournament, event and lane maintenance company, has announced a sponsorship extension with Ebonite International for the 2018 and 2019 tournament seasons.
The partnership allows Ebonite International and its four brands (consisting of Ebonite, Columbia 300, Track and Hammer) on-site activation, branding and sales opportunities at H2M Management’s 2018-19 owned and/or operated tournaments. Ebonite will provide financial and in-kind support to the tournament organization.
“Our core belief is that tournaments can be operated under a sponsorship, linage, and expense structure that allows bowlers to enjoy a healthy prize fund, proprietors to make money, manufacturers to sell product, and our business to stay profitable,” said Steve Harman, co-owner and Director of Marketing for H2M Management.
H2M’s 100-percent transparency on all event financials allows bowlers to know where their dollars are going and who is making money at the event. For the 2017 Indianapolis Fall Classic, presented by Ebonite, $30 of each $35 entry fee goes directly to the prize fund. There is no linage charge, and $5 goes toward tournament expenses.
“H2M Management continues to showcase its vision, goals and commitment to bowling’s future, and Ebonite International is proud to continue our association with this great group of people,” said Rob Gotchall, Marketing Manager for Players, Promotions and Events for Ebonite International Inc.
The 2018-19 sponsorship includes the Indianapolis Fall Classic, All-Star Trio and New Year’s Day Swiss Trio Grudge Matches, among many others. In addition, H2M will wear EBI logos on all tournament jerseys for all events in which the company participates (such as all Mid-South Collegiate Conference Tournaments).
H2M Management, LLC, is owned and operated by Steve Harman, Dylan Murphy and Nicholas Hoagland.
‘Phone Card Drive for the Troops’ Needs Donations
The California Bowling Writers organization introduced its now-annual Phone Card Drive for the Troops in 2004, and since then has raised more than $77,000 — which calculates to approximately 3,750 phone cards offering between 125 and 300 minutes per card.
The cards are purchased each year and sent to troops serving overseas in time for Valentine’s Day, so they may call loved ones at home.
“This year, the campaign is in need of donations because of all the other charities out there competing for our dollars,” said Bette Addington of the CBW. “Please take a moment to consider donating to this cause as the deadline for donations is fast approaching: Friday, Dec. 15. Any amount is much appreciated — generic or ‘in honor or memory of.’”
Checks should be made out to “CBW” and mailed to CBW Treasurer Tina Martin, 57 Shields Lane, Novato, CA 94947-3877. Log on to the CBW website at www.calbowlingwriters.org to download the phone card brochure or for further information.
Are There Lessons to Be Learned from NFL Ratings Decline?
Between programs produced by the Professional Bowlers Association and the International Bowling Campus (BPAA and USBC working together on various initiatives), there will be at least 34 bowling telecasts on ESPN or CBS Sports Network in 2018 (see Cyber Report Nos. 976-977 for the full schedule).
Among the goals of the telecasts is to get bowling in front of large numbers of people, and generate more visits to America’s bowling centers.
Attracting “eyeballs” for telecasts is a challenge in today’s media environment, however, and the ratings plight of the National Football League provides a good example.
Fewer people are watching NFL games, but don’t blame player protests, Presidential tweets or boring games, says Dom Caristi, a telecommunications professor at Ball State University. Instead, the problem lies with the three Ds — dilution of audience, decline in viewers of traditional television, and divided audiences.
Data from Nielsen found that through the first six weeks of the NFL season, total viewership of NFL games had fallen by 7.5 percent compared to the first six games of the 2016 season.
“The NFL ratings decline has absolutely nothing to do with protests or Presidential tweets,” says Caristi, a member of the university’s Digital Policy Institute. “NFL ratings are lower for the same reason most other television ratings are down.”
Dilution of the product, or too many football games, is the first major problem, he says.
“Sure, there are some diehard NFL fans who want to watch only the NFL, but for many casual viewers, college and professional football are nearly interchangeable,” Caristi says. “It’s not just the increased availability of NFL games, but also increased college game availability. At the height of the season, football fans can watch seven days a week. At some point, the audience is diluted by so many games.”
Another factor is the declining number of people who are watching television.
“Television — whether sports, dramas or game shows — just doesn’t have the allure it once had. The industry has less audience overall,” Caristi says.
Caristi also points out that not only are fewer people watching television, but their attention is divided because of the increase in the number of channels.
The new reality is that the competition for television “eyeballs” has never been fiercer, so center owners — who stand to benefit the most from good ratings for bowling programs — would be wise to help spread the word about telecasts and show them on center monitors.
Business Briefs…
* Jayhawk Bowling Supply in Lawrence, Kan., has announced its Pro Shop Training Class schedule for 2018. The classes will be held on the following dates: Feb. 1-4, April 5-8, June 7-10, Aug. 2-5, Oct. 4-7 and Dec. 6-9. Visit jayhawkbowling.com for details.
* Jayhawk’s classes will be added to the “Save the Date” calendar that appears monthly in BJI’s sister publication, Bowling Center Management. To have your business-related event included on that calendar, send event info — including date(s), site, city, state and contact information — to bjibob@aol.com.
* Uptown Alley in Midlothian, Va., is conducting a holiday toy drive through Dec. 18, benefiting the William’s Christmas Kids Foundation (WCKF), a nonprofit that hosts a Christmas party for disadvantaged and special needs children from the local area.
Other News You Can Use…
* Jensen’s Recreation Center, a bowling and billiard center that opened in 1924 in the Echo Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, has been dark for decades. But its articulated sign (meaning it lights up in a programmed sequence) has been restored to its former glory by the building’s new owner, Vista Investment Group. You can see the 17-ft. by 28-ft. sign in action, and learn more about its historic significance, here: http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-jensens-sign-20171115-story.html.
* Team USA got shut out during the opening Singles event of the 2017 World Bowling Championships, but came back to claim multiple medals in Doubles at the South Point Bowling Plaza in Las Vegas. Here’s a report on the Doubles: http://www.bowlersjournal.com/usa-men-korea-women-bag-doubles-gold-at-world-championships/. Action continues through Monday. The final two days of competition will be broadcast live on the Olympic Channel to a worldwide audience.
* Do you just have to know the results of the various PBA World Series of Bowling IX events before they air on ESPN? If so, click here: http://www.bowlersjournal.com/wsob-ix-champions-crowned-in-reno/. If not… don’t!
* BJI Editor Gianmarc Manzione digs deep into the stats from WSOB IX with PBA Commissioner and CEO Tom Clark on the latest edition of the BJI Podcast. Clark also touches on a number of other interesting subjects, such as why he thinks 220 may be “the new par” in bowling, and shares some amazing memories of watching Liz Johnson bowl when she was 13 years old. You can listen to the podcast here:
http://www.bowlersjournal.com/bji-podcast-digging-deep-into-the-stats-from-wsob-ix/.
* The guest this week on Phantom Radio is former pro bowler Ric Hamlin. To listen to the conversation, go to: https://kegel.squarespace.com/phantomblog/2017/11/29/ric-hamlin-phantom-radio.
* CONTACT: Please send business news, event information, etc. to Bob Johnson at bjibob@aol.com. For breaking business news, visit bcmmag.com or bowlersjournal.com, and “Like” Bowling Center Management and Bowlers Journal International on Facebook. BJI Cyber Reports are now archived at bcmmag.com.
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