E-dition Nos. 1,001-1,002 • Thursday, May 10, 2018
Editor: Bob Johnson (bjibob@aol.com)
Plans in Place for 2018 National Bowling Day
The bowling industry will again celebrate National Bowling Day on Saturday, Aug. 11 by offering consumers a free game at participating bowling centers across the country. Consumers will be able to go to GoBowling.com to find participating centers and download a coupon good for a free game during the month of August.
Go Bowling renewed its support of National Bowling Day, traditionally recognized on the second Saturday in August, in 2017. Thanks to exposure from multiple segments on “FOX & Friends” and coverage on usatoday.com, tens of thousands of new visitors flocked to the GoBowling.com website.
For 2018, Go Bowling has secured confirmation from “FOX & Friends” that it plans to again feature bowling throughout the show’s broadcast on Aug. 11. Additionally, Go Bowling at The Glen — Go Bowling’s NASCAR race sponsorship — is on Saturday, Aug. 5, and National Bowling Day will be heavily promoted throughout the race telecast on NBC.
“Last year, we were able to really get the ball rolling on the National Bowling Day celebration thanks to the incredible exposure provided by FOX,” said John Harbuck, President of Strike Ten Entertainment. “August is a great time to get new bowlers out onto the lanes as we are moving into league season. With the exposure we will receive from ‘FOX & Friends’ and the bump we will get from Go Bowling at The Glen, we will be driving traffic right into bowling centers.”
In recognition of National Bowling Day, GoBowling.com will again be setting up bowling lanes on the set of “FOX & Friends” in New York on Aug. 11 from 6-10 a.m. Eastern. Representatives from the industry and the PWBA and PBA will be promoting the free coupon giveaway and bowling with the hosts of the show.
National Bowling Day week will kick off with Go Bowling’s sponsorship of the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Race at Watkins Glen on Aug. 5. Go Bowling at The Glen will be televised on NBC and broadcast on MRN radio, providing ample opportunity to promote National Bowling Day.
Go Bowling also will be represented on the track by the No. 10 Stewart-Haas Racing car, to be driven by Aric Almirola. The Almirola car will be wrapped in a bowling lane theme design, complete with a bowling ball and pins, along with the Go Bowling logo.
“This is going to be a great week for bowling and the Go Bowling brand,” said Nancy Schenk, President of the Bowling Proprietors’ Association of America. “Having the Go Bowling at The Glen NASCAR race as a lead-in to provide top-of-mind awareness for bowling the week before the National Bowling Day segments on ‘FOX & Friends’ is going to give the National Bowling Day celebration an incredible boost this year.”
Strike Ten Entertainment and BPAA are fully supporting the National Bowling Day initiative. Digital marketing support materials are being created for all member centers to assist in promoting National Bowling Day to drive business locally. The National Bowling Day marketing plans and support materials will be unveiled at Bowl Expo in June, and the “Promo Planner” department in the June issue of Bowling Center Management will include additional marketing ideas for individual centers.
PBA’s WSOB Will Return to Detroit in March
The 10th anniversary edition of the PBA’s World Series of Bowling will return to its roots at historic Thunderbowl Lanes in suburban Detroit, and will include a unique television package with the PBA’s new broadcast partner, FOX Sports.
WSOB X, a multi-event tournament series, will be held March 11-21 as part of the 2019 Go Bowling! PBA Tour at the same site that hosted the inaugural World Series in 2009.
“The PBA World Series of Bowling has evolved over the past nine years in becoming the world’s premier event in professional bowling,” PBA CEO and Commissioner Tom Clark said. “The 10th edition will be the most electrifying yet, with multiple PBA titles being won live in prime time on national TV on consecutive nights. None of this growth would have been possible without the shared vision of Thunderbowl Lanes proprietor Tom Strobl and the great bowling fans of Detroit, so it’s with great pleasure that the PBA will return to the place of the WSOB’s birth.”
WSOB X will include four championship events that were part of the original event: the Cheetah Championship (won in 2009 by Norm Duke), Chameleon Championship (won by Bill O’Neill), Scorpion Championship (won by Mike DeVaney) and the PBA World Championship (won by Tom Smallwood). The finals of those four events will be televised live by FOX Sports in prime time on consecutive nights in March. A fifth event — a special USA vs. The World team match — will be the final event of WSOB X. Details will be announced soon.
Thunderbowl Lanes’ unique arena bay, originally built to showcase team bowling in an era just before the PBA’s formation in 1958, will be the site of the FOX Sports telecasts, continuing a WSOB tradition that has included events at premier bowling venues including the South Point in Las Vegas and the National Bowling Stadium in Reno.
Since its introduction, the WSOB has become a magnet for both established and rising international bowling stars. Bowlers from 41 different countries have participated over its first nine years.
Because the PBA’s new partnership with FOX Sports begins in 2019 and presents an opportunity to televise the entire World Series live, there will be no 2018 WSOB. The PBA replaced the World Series on the 2018 schedule with the recently announced PBA Fall Swing in Tulsa, Okla., in October.
The World Series and the PBA Fall Swing will be open to PBA members only. A complete schedule of WSOB X events will be announced soon.
SMART Announces $1.75 Million Earnings Distribution
The Scholarship Management and Account Reporting for Tenpins has announced an income earnings distribution of $1.75 million to providers’ funds for 2018.
The SMART Board makes income earnings distributions each May based on earnings from the previous year. The $1.75 million distribution is from investment earnings in 2017.
“The SMART Board is excited to be able to make such significant distributions to our providers,” SMART Corporation Board Chairman Wally Hall said. “Our conservative investment strategy continues to provide solid returns, which allows the SMART Board to give providers additional scholarship funds for youth bowlers.”
Combined with the distribution of $2.4 million from expired accounts in early January, the SMART Board has infused provider accounts with more than $4 million in 2018. Last May, the SMART Board made an income earnings distribution of $1 million to providers’ funds for 2016 earnings.
During the last year, nearly 6,000 recipients successfully used funds from SMART accounts. SMART has 3,500 providers, and nearly 200,000 scholarship recipients have their scholarships in the SMART program.
Started in 1994 by the United States Bowling Congress, the SMART program offers a centralized location to manage bowling scholarship funds, as well as provide USBC members with a resource for inquiries about bowling scholarships.
In 2010, the SMART Bowling Scholarship Funding Corporation was created as an independent entity dedicated to the management, protection and promotion of the SMART scholarship funds, with USBC staff overseeing the day-to-day operation of the program.
The SMART Board places the largest portion of earned scholarships in safe securities, with remaining assets invested in a diversified portfolio expected to yield larger returns. The majority of investment income is distributed to participating organizations and providers, with a small portion used to cover administrative costs and investment fees.
Gold Coast Gets the 2019 Masters
The Gold Coast Bowling Center in Las Vegas will be the site of the 2019 USBC Masters, a major event on the Go Bowling! PBA Tour and a World Bowling event.
The 2019 Masters will start March 26, and the event’s stepladder finals will be shown in prime time on FOX Sports, the PBA’s new television partner. FS1 will televise the stepladder live on Monday, April 1, beginning at 9 p.m. Eastern.
The tournament also will be the final event for PBA Tour players to earn points for entry into the new PBA Playoffs system, which will be introduced in 2019.
The Gold Coast Bowling Center, a 70-lane facility, served as host of the 2018 USBC Senior Queens in March.
With the 2019 USBC Open Championships starting March 9 at the South Point Bowling Plaza, competitors will be able to bowl in two events in one trip to Las Vegas next year.
Trip to See PBA League Is ‘Better Than Disney’
The PBA League program at Bayside Bowl in Portland, Maine, has become legendary in its own time, thanks in part to its rabid fan base in Portland and around the world. They come in all sizes and ages, as evident by the story of Chicago’s Pierce Klein.
When Pierce’s mother, Jaime, asked him what he’d like to do to celebrate his third birthday, Pierce said, “To meet E.J. Tackett at Bayside Bowl and give him a hug.”
So that’s what Jaime, husband Marc, and siblings Liv and Miles did. They loaded up the car and drove to Portland where Pierce got his hug and met several other players, including Marshall Kent and A.J. Johnson.
“We are all so obsessed [with bowling] that we even have a bowling alley in our basement,” Jaime said. “It’s generational and we love it. Coming here is better than Disney.”
The 2018 Elias Cup winner and the Mark Roth PBA League MVP will be revealed in a taped telecast this Sunday beginning at 1 p.m. Eastern on ESPN. The new Elias Cup format involves two best-of-two-game Baker format matches with a one-ball sudden death rolloff being used to decide any ties. The new format could see up to seven one-ball rolloffs.
Broadcast Schedule Set for PBA Tour Finals
Eight stars who have dominated the PBA Tour’s earnings chart over a span of more than two years competed in the 2nd annual PBA Tour Finals at Thunderbowl Lanes May 4-5.
The event marks the 2018 Go Bowling! PBA Tour’s return to the CBS Sports Network with a series of five two-hour telecasts. Here is the telecast schedule (all times Eastern):
* May 22 at 10 p.m. — Positioning Round 1
* May 29 at 8 p.m. — Positioning Round 2
* June 5 at 8 p.m. — Semifinals 1
* June 12 at 8 p.m. — Semifinals 2
* June 19 at 8 p.m. — Championship
Business Briefs…
* PBA Tour champion Ray Orf, a St. Louis pro shop operator who won the 1962 All-American Classic in Dallas and six PBA Regional titles, died on April 20 in St. Louis. He was 76. Orf, a member of the Missouri and St. Louis Bowling Halls of Fame, had his finest year in PBA Tour competition in 1962 when he cashed in nine of 18 events. His family asked that donations to the charity of your choice be made in his name.
* Turbo 2-N-1 Grips founder and owner Dave Bernhardt has returned to his home in Detroit after suffering a heart attack during the PBA50 Lucas Magazine Open in Port St. Lucie, Fla., according to a Facebook post by his daughter, Turbo President Lori Mraz. Mraz noted Bernhardt, 71, underwent successful surgery to correct a pair of coronary blockages and is already thinking about rejoining the PBA50 Tour later in the summer.
* A fire has done considerable damage to Missisquoi Lanes in Lowell, Vt. The center is housed in a building known to locals as Warner’s Dance Hall, and it’s believed the fire broke out in an apartment in the front of the building. A photo of the blaze can be viewed on the center’s Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/Missisquoi-Lanes-192360330966188/. The owner of the 10-lane center said, “I am hopeful that we will be open again, but time will tell.”
* AMF Terrace Garden Lanes, the second-largest center in the Rochester, N.Y., area, has closed. The center opened in 1958 with 24 “fully automatic Brunswick lanes, sound-proofing, air conditioning, and non-glare, indirect-lighting innovations.” Among the programs it advertised in the local newspaper at the time were “housewives’ leagues.” The center added lanes over the years, ultimately expanding to 56. Empire Lanes is the largest center in the area with 64 lanes. Read more here: https://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/news/2018/05/08/terrace-garden-lanes-closes/589707002/.
* Steven Jemison, who spent summers on the Massachusetts island of Nantucket during his youth, wants to build a 10-lane bowling center there. The project also would include a restaurant and bar. The location selected by Jemison is next door to The Chicken Box nightclub. “What I’m trying to do is provide a fun activity that spans across the seasons in the form of an entertainment center for both year-round residents and summer visitors,” Jemison told The Inquirer and Mirror. Full story: http://www.ack.net/news/20180510/mid-island-bowling-alley-proposed-on-dave-street.
* One Hudson Yards is a 33-story apartment complex designed for those who have the means to buy property in Manhattan, but prefer to lease the luxury lifestyle. The complex began renting last August, and now is 95% occupied with residents paying at least $5,095 per month for a one-bedroom apartment, $8,700 per month for two bedrooms and $12,000 for three bedrooms. As is the case with most apartment buildings, there are premiums for floor levels and views. But keep in mind that amenities include a suite of swimming pools (an 82-ft. lap pool, a hot tub, a plunge pool and a salt-water pool), a fitness center, a half-court basketball court, a game lounge… and two lanes of bowling. Read more here: https://ny.curbed.com/2018/5/7/17326488/one-hudson-yards-related-amenities-photos.
* After getting off to a fast start in 2014, The Corner Alley in Cleveland’s Uptown district is scheduled to close at the end of the month. The owners say the venue is too large for the area and no longer is profitable. A smaller Corner Alley in downtown Cleveland will remain open. Read more here: http://realestate.cleveland.com/realestate-news/2018/05/corner_alley_uptown_to_close_i.html. On its website, The Corner Alley promotes “bites, beer, bourbon and bowling.”
* Strikeability LLC has announced the release of a new book by USBC Gold coach Susie Minshew. Her third bowling book is titled “The Chamber of Bowling Secrets,” and follows the successful launch of her first two books in 2013, “The Bowling Whisperer” and “Whoever Finds It First, Wins!” In the new book, readers learn about Minshew’s seven secrets of success, the “no matter whats,” the sometimes-silly language of bowling, a secret weapon every bowler already has, bowling myths that challenge the truth, and much more. “The Chamber of Bowling Secrets” is available through Strikeability.com as well as in a Kindle version.
Other News You Can Use…
* Shannon O’Keefe came into the week with fond memories of Double Decker Lanes in Rohnert Park, Calif., and she left with one more after capturing the 2018 PWBA Sonoma County Open. In the title match, she defeated the top-seeded Verity Crawley of England, 268-266, for the $10,000 first prize. O’Keefe also won at Double Decker in 2016. More: http://www.bowlersjournal.com/okeefe-bags-seventh-pwba-tour-title-in-sonoma-county-open/.
* Go Bowling is sponsoring a special competition for PWBA Tour competitors that will award an additional $10,000 in prize money during the first half of the season. The Go Bowling PWBA Challenge will be based on performance in the first six PWBA standard events. When the PWBA Tour hits Orlando, Fla., for the U.S. Women’s Open, the top four players in the points standings will compete in a special finals bracket, with $5,000 going to the Challenge winner. More: http://www.bowlersjournal.com/go-bowling-to-sponsor-10k-challenge-for-pwba-tour-bowlers/.
* Using three different balls to attack the changing lane conditions in the stepladder finals, Michael Haugen Jr. won the PBA50 Johnny Petraglia BVL Open Presented by Brunswick Tuesday for his second career PBA50 Tour title. Haugen, the 2017 PBA50 Rookie of the Year and winner of the 2017 Suncoast PBA Senior U.S. Open, defeated PBA Hall of Famer and top qualifier Walter Ray Williams Jr., 277-195, in the title match at Farmingdale Lanes in Farmingdale, N.Y. The tournament was named after PBA legend and Vietnam War veteran Johnny Petraglia, who is a 14-time PBA Tour and eight-time PBA50 Tour winner. The BVL fund provides recreational and therapeutic programs and services to military veterans. More: http://www.bowlersjournal.com/haugen-jr-wins-pba50-johnny-petraglia-bvl-open-for-second-career-pba50-title/.
* The PBA is now accepting applications for the 2018 PBA Billy Welu Scholarship Award, which recognizes exemplary qualities in male or female college students who excel in academics as well as in the sport of bowling. The winner will receive a $1,000 scholarship. To be eligible, candidates must be amateur bowlers who are currently in college (preceding the application date) and maintaining at least a 2.5/4.0 GPA or equivalent. Applications must be postmarked by June 15, and are available at: http://www.pba.com/Corporate/Scholarships.
* On the latest edition of The Bowlers Journal Podcast, Storm Vice President of Marketing Steve Kloempken looks back on his “magical” experience bowling the 2018 USBC Masters telecast:
http://www.bowlersjournal.com/the-bowlers-journal-podcast-steve-kloempken/.
* The guest this week on Phantom Radio is veteran lane installer Lou Trunk. To listen to the conversation, go to: https://kegel.squarespace.com/phantomblog/2018/5/9/lou-trunk-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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