Pay for play: in the new world of the marketing-savvy PBA, competition—and profit—reign

Bowling Digest, Feb, 2002 by Larry Paladino

IT WAS AN AD CAMPAIGN THAT ultimately didn't prove successful enough to turn things around for a division of General Motors: "This is not your father's Oldsmobile." But with Olds' demise, perhaps the PBA would do well to appropriate that slogan: "This is not your father's PBA."

With new, marketing-savvy owners and executives from Microsoft and Nike now leading the PBA, there's been a major effort to repackage and resell pro bowling into--surprise--a for-profit business. Would business-people who emigrated from such powerhouse corporations have it any other way?

There's great history in the PBA, but soon it will become ancient history. That's because a new era of stars is certain to emerge in a glitzy new format designed to prevent pro bowling from getting lost near the bottom of the sports and entertainment food chain.

Perhaps you got caught up in bowling even before the PBA was founded in 1958 in Akron, Ohio, by attorney Eddie Elias and 32 other people. Or maybe you got interested in the '60s when the Don Carters and Dick Webers were putting pro bowling on the map; or in the '70s when the Earl Anthonys and Mark Roths were dominating the lanes and sparking television interest. Perhaps you weren't old enough to start paying attention until the '80s, when bowlers like Pete Weber, Marshall Holman, or Mike Aulby were usually out front--or in the '90s, during the emergence of such stars as Walter Ray Williams Jr., Parker Bohn III, and Norm Duke.

Who is going to rise to the top in the first decade of the new millennium? Will it be a Robert Smith, a Chris Barnes, a Jason Couch, or a Patrick Allen? Or maybe the persistent veterans will fight off the young guns. Either way, one thing is certain: Those who dominate the new PBA tour will have to do it by adapting their games to new rules that, while not ignoring consistent high scoring, put a premium on head-to-head competition.

The big shooter who was averaging 230 to 240 under the old format could find himself going home a couple days early, a victim of a few errant shots and bad games in match play against someone who, on the statistics sheet, wouldn't seem likely to win.

"It's been slow building, but we're definitely headed in the right direction," PBA commissioner Ian Hamilton says. Hamilton and Steve Miller, the new PBA president and chief executive officer, were hired in September 2000 in hopes that their skills in the global sports marketing department at shoe/sportswear superpower Nike were just what the PBA tour needed.

Six months earlier, the association was purchased by former Microsoft executives Chris Peters, Mike Slade, and Rob Glaser. They moved the headquarters from Akron to Seattle, and soon more changes started coming. Here is some of what they've done already:

* Signed an exclusive three-year deal (with a three-year option) with ESPN. As part of the agreement, ESPN is producing and running promotional spots on four ESPN channels, pointing viewers toward PBA telecasts packed with new production elements to add pizazz. Later, the PBA hired TWI/IMG to renegotiate the ESPN contract and to sell sponsorships.

* Increased the overall prize fund by 139%. The total prize fund for the 2001-02 season is $4.3 million--compared with $1.8 million from Fall 2000 through Winter 2001. The minimum first prize for tournaments is now $40,000.

* Set a defined season, September through March, to coincide with league bowling seasons.

* Modified the dress code so bowlers "can develop their unique personalities."

* Changed the format of all tournaments "to create compelling competition" for TV. Head-to-head sudden death elimination is a big part of the revamping.

* Hired another ex-Nike exec, Mark Bisbing (who created and managed the Nike Golf tour), to run the PBA regional programs. Chip Zielke, formerly of Brunswick, was hired in the newly created position of vice president of strategic business development, bringing with him extensive experience in product launches and licensing.

* Increased PBA membership more than 20% in nine months.

* Gave stock options to the top 70 bowlers, which the PBA said is a first for any sports league or organization.

* Revamped its Web site (www.pba.com), which now includes statistical information on every PBA tourney ever held.

* Banned sideline coaching.

"We started the season with a plan and a basic mission," Hamilton says. "We wanted to educate the viewer, dimensionalize the players, and create competition. The first few weeks we were getting the kinks out. Now we're building momentum and staying on top of things. We want to stick with our objectives and make sure everything is geared toward achieving those objectives."

Although profit is certainly on the minds of the new owners, they "are in this for the long term. They're not in this for a quick fix," Hamilton says. "We want to be in a position of where bowling is the next emerging global sport. The owners are willing to be patient and know this is a long-term process."

"It's always good to have someone who backs you who knows the sport and enjoys it," Aulby says of PBA chairman Peters, who bowls. "Those people are always willing to go the extra mile. We needed new people in the sport to bring in outside view-points. The key is, they do listen."