The most important issue facing the bowling industry today

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kajmk
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Re: The most important issue facing the bowling industry tod

Post by kajmk »

Good time to bump this one up??
May all beings everywhere be happy and free,
and may the thoughts, words, and actions of my own life
contribute in some way to that happiness
and to that freedom for all.

John
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kajmk
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Re: The most important issue facing the bowling industry tod

Post by kajmk »

Dusted this one off, lest we forget.
May all beings everywhere be happy and free,
and may the thoughts, words, and actions of my own life
contribute in some way to that happiness
and to that freedom for all.

John
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Re: The most important issue facing the bowling industry tod

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"The most important issue facing the bowling industry today": Nothing has changed: How to increase the amount of bowlers playing the sport.
guruU2 wrote:I consider these posts to be vital for the salvation of bowling-as-an-institution in this country. As the readers of this this site know I have long advocated development of a PBA "bowling professional" division devoted to the development of fully educated bowling professionals. My program was laid down years ago and can be referenced in the archives of Phantom Radio. Not having this type of program was Eddie Ellias' biggest mistake. The "touring player" now is better educated and understands a bigger picture as they are not just a bunch of traveling pot game bowlers. The PBA is in a position to developed trained and cross trained bowling professionals who have the interest and enthusiasm for the sport. WE CAN DO THIS, at minimum cost, and in doing so save the industry and the sport. It is up to us to keep the pressure on and the buzz going. PBA leadership must understand that they have a very incomplete understanding of the nature of the sport, the industry and how to market the game. WE CAN DO THIS.
The PBA has evolve since I wrote a few years ago but the leadership still does not understand how to market their product on the macro and micro levels.
-Gary Parsons
If one does not know one's product, one can not manage nor promote the product one does not know.
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Re: The most important issue facing the bowling industry tod

Post by 44boyd »

The worst marketing the PBA does is let people know how little money is in pro bowling. As a parent with an athletic kid, why would you push them into a sport where the elite might barely make 100k?
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Re: The most important issue facing the bowling industry tod

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44boyd wrote:The worst marketing the PBA does is let people know how little money is in pro bowling. As a parent with an athletic kid, why would you push them into a sport where the elite might barely make 100k?

And now we have this 'wonderful' idea being put forth by pros who can't make a living.

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Re: The most important issue facing the bowling industry tod

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How much money is available professionally should have little to do with whether to introduce a sport/recreation to a person. In any sport the number of professionals that make a living at it is very minuscule and to pin your hopes on that is like betting on the lottery.

Bowling is a sport for a life time, one of the few that can be performed well for decades.

There wasn't in money in bowling when the sport took off in the late 1950's. The PBA hadn't been formed yet.

With the advent of the automatic pin setter it had become cool to bowl. Everyone wanted to start to bowl. Young, old, rich, poor. You didn't have to be particularly athletic to bowl. There were leagues for all skill levels.

Get a ball and pair of shoes, learn to hit a spot and you could bowl. Bowling wasn't very cheap then either. Fifty cents a line was a lot of money when you made $1.30 and hour. New balls were $30 to $40, half a weeks pay.

Kids don't start skateboarding because of the money, they think it's cool, rad, the in thing to do.

Kids don't start gaming because of the money.

I remember tennis being a fad, slow pitch softball, even golf became a fad with tiger woods but is now suffering and the fad is starting to fad. Professionally the money is there the masses have stopped playing the sport as they did at the height of the fad.

Bowling reached in peak in 1980 and has been downhill every since.

The public by and large does not think bowling is cool anymore.

The boom in bowling was a fad, an anomaly, unless you can make it a fad again it will become a niche sport.
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Re: The most important issue facing the bowling industry tod

Post by vicsmyth »

I went to practice bowl yesterday (Sunday) afternoon at my local Bowlmor center. Sometimes I have the place to myself. Yesterday the parking lot was full. The place was packed with younger people. It was the first day that they had the projectors going. Right above the pins they have a wall of screens with all sorts of videos going. The lanes were dim with laser lights flying all over the place. Approach areas had orange lighting. The projectors reflected onto the lanes at the arrows making it impossible to target. With the orange lights I could not figure out which ball was which in my bag. Another league bowler who came to practice next to me threw 3 frames and left. Two of the people who work there apologized to me. They could no longer put me on an end pair and turn a few lights on.

It's all about revenue. The party atmosphere draws in young people who not only bowl but order overpriced beer and snacks. Their kids spend money in the arcade. Old guys like me get free games with our senior league so we bowl for free. We're too cheap to buy their overpriced beer or snacks.

Bowlmor's focus is in on making money (can't blame them, that's what businesses do) and they will generate more revenue by turning their bowling alleys into entertainment centers. That's great for business, but bad for the sport of the bowling.

It will take people much more clever than me to figure out how to turn this trend around.
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Re: The most important issue facing the bowling industry tod

Post by TonyPR »

Pinbuster wrote:How much money is available professionally should have little to do with whether to introduce a sport/recreation to a person. In any sport the number of professionals that make a living at it is very minuscule and to pin your hopes on that is like betting on the lottery.

Bowling is a sport for a life time, one of the few that can be performed well for decades.

There wasn't in money in bowling when the sport took off in the late 1950's. The PBA hadn't been formed yet.

With the advent of the automatic pin setter it had become cool to bowl. Everyone wanted to start to bowl. Young, old, rich, poor. You didn't have to be particularly athletic to bowl. There were leagues for all skill levels.

Get a ball and pair of shoes, learn to hit a spot and you could bowl. Bowling wasn't very cheap then either. Fifty cents a line was a lot of money when you made $1.30 and hour. New balls were $30 to $40, half a weeks pay.

Kids don't start skateboarding because of the money, they think it's cool, rad, the in thing to do.

Kids don't start gaming because of the money.

I remember tennis being a fad, slow pitch softball, even golf became a fad with tiger woods but is now suffering and the fad is starting to fad. Professionally the money is there the masses have stopped playing the sport as they did at the height of the fad.

Bowling reached in peak in 1980 and has been downhill every since.

The public by and large does not think bowling is cool anymore.

The boom in bowling was a fad, an anomaly, unless you can make it a fad again it will become a niche sport.
Belmo, Jesper and Troup are making it cool again, just watch them pins flying side to side... Also, we still have PDW who’s the equivalent to Keith Richards, a true over 50 rockstar, and to have Norm Duke kick some butt again... twice. I hope there’s great times ahead, taking my daughter to Jr Gold this summer...
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Re: The most important issue facing the bowling industry tod

Post by 2lefthands »

44boyd wrote:The worst marketing the PBA does is let people know how little money is in pro bowling. As a parent with an athletic kid, why would you push them into a sport where the elite might barely make 100k?
It’s embarrassing how much money PBA bowlers earn now. Jason Belmonte has 11 majors and 10 other PBA titles and he doesn’t crack the top 30 in all time earnings. He’s below Mike Edwards who has won only one regular PBA title, 25 years ago. Edwards made $43,000 for his lone title, Jakob Butturf just won his first major, the USBC Masters and won $30,000.

https://www.pba.com/AllTimeStats/Details/58" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
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Re: The most important issue facing the bowling industry tod

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2lefthands wrote:It’s embarrassing how much money PBA bowlers earn now
In 1960 or 61 Carmen Salvino won the Championship Bowling made for TV tournament in Parkersburg W VA. He won $10,000 in which the Governor of West Virginia presented him with the check and the mayor presented him with a HUGE trophy. 50 years later in Detroit Norm Duke wins $10,000 for winning a PBA stop and he has to get get the small trophy off the table and hold it high. This devolution can only be laid at the footsteps of bowling's "leadership". This sad state of affairs CAN be turned around but not by the current leadership who has the narrowest mind set. The Fox telecasts can only be part of the turn around and can not lead a recovery because if one does not know one's product one can not market the product one does not know.
-Gary Parsons
If one does not know one's product, one can not manage nor promote the product one does not know.
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