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

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."

The new owners, Aulby says, "don't seem to hide. They're making sure it goes the way they want it to go. They have great road staff people and it's pretty solid from week to week. You know what's going to happen."

PBA Hall-of-Famer Aulby, fourth on the all-time money list with more than $2 million in earnings, likes a number of things about the new format. "During qualifying, it's nice that they strip and re-oil before every squad," the lefthander from Indianapolis says. "It takes away a lot of controversy, [particularly] that left-handers have an advantage. When you've got lane conditions out of the way, that's a huge positive."

Also, he says, with the switch to sudden death elimination match play, "You'll see a lot more emotion because of the way match-play games are set up. And the mini-arena setup is very attractive. Fans will be able to lock into somebody they like."

The format change [see sidebar on page 38], Aulby says, now requires "quicker bursts to sustain the format. Now a bad game or shot can put you out of the tourney."

Another lefty, Patrick Allen, won the Detroit-area tournament at Taylor Lanes last October. It was his first PBA victory, earning him a $40,000 check. When the tourney was last held, in 1999, the top prize was $15,000. Allen defeated Smith in the title match, 236-204. Smith, who had beaten Williams earlier in the TV stepladder, had flirted with a perfect game before beating Barnes, 279-255, in the semifinal match.

"It's like anything," Allen says of the new format. "It has its good points and bad points. It's a good format if you qualify low and get to the TV show. But it's bad if one shot can cost you a five-game match."

In general, though, the PBA "is going in the right direction," Alien believes. "It was on `SportsCenter' [recently] for the first time ever. It seems like every week the shows are getting more exciting and people are catching on to the format." The Greater Detroit Open finals, broadcast live on ESPN on a Tuesday night, yielded the tour's highest Nielsen rating yet, a 1.16.

Barnes won $10,000 for his third-place finish, but he says being on the tour for him "never has been about the money. I like to compete. I like the adrenaline."

Despite today's beefed-up prize money, he says, "If we were bowling for half of that or a third of that, I'd be out here. Bowling is like baseball used to be. Bowlers are out here because of their love of the game. Guys aren't out here because they want to be millionaires."

Yet, Barnes continues, "From the money side of things, how can you be unhappy? Our 20th-best players can make legitimate lives out here now, where before that wasn't the case. That's why we've seen an influx of new players. A year from now, or two years from now, you'll see new players who will make an impact. There's an opportunity for [new] personalities to [emerge]."

The shorter match-play format "is more exciting and intense," Barnes says. "It has raised the bar."

Another young player, Michael Gaither, is happy that there are checks of at least $1,000 down to 64 places. In five years on the tour, much of it part-time, he had earned less than $50,000 total. His best finish was a 12th place in 1999 in Austin, Texas. That was worth $2,600 then, but on the new tour it would be worth $3,500.

"I don't know how many times in the past I was in the top half of the field and just missed a check," Gaither says. "Now I know I can get at least $1,000." A title now, though, has "more luck involved, because in a five-game match play you can beat someone in total pins and still be out of it."

Gaither also said he didn't like playing only nine games the first day before the cut. "I'd like more," he says. "That's what I heard from a lot of guys."

He says he'd have come out on tour this season regardless of the changes. "You've got to stay out here and learn," Gaither says. "I expect to win eventually."

One of the nation's top amateur tournaments, the Hoinke Classic in Cincinnati, already is anticipating more balanced play at its event because it expects the PBA's changes will siphon away the "super amateurs." (Prior to this PBA season's enhanced prize money, "super amateurs" such as Smith found it more attractive to cherry-pick the amateur tournaments, often for as good or better money than they could earn on the PBA tour.)

"We think the field will be a lot more competitive with the jump by many of the bowlers to the PBA," Tracy Hoinke says.

Hall-of-Famer Johnny Petraglia has nice things to say about the changes, but he does have a few reservations: "The money is wonderful. The format is exciting because of match play. It will just take the public awhile to get used to less bowling," he says. "TV is basically the same as the old stepladder. Any form of stepladder is still the best way to go.

"Competition? That's a different story. The format makes it tougher on good bowlers. Walter Ray [Williams] can bowl three 258 games in a row and it won't do him any good if someone else bowls three 259s. The kings can get knocked off--or win--and that's what people are coming to watch. The better bowlers still will be in the top 16, but if they're running into each other all the time [in match play], well ..."

Dale Eagle, PBA Senior Player of the Year in 1999, was also at the Detroit event, a temptation too hard to resist after winning the senior event in Jackson, Mich., a 45-minute drive away.

"This new organization is great for bowling," Eagle says, and the people at the top are "good people. They're going to help us. They'll iron out the bad things. Sure, there'll be changes as they go. They have to sift through the bad to get to the good. They listen to the guys and the public. They're very good for our organization and I think they'll help the seniors, too. The kids come first. Then they can help the seniors later on.

"The public will finally get into it," Eagle says, even though a lot of lesser-known bowlers could be making TV shows. "The cream of the crop will still come to the top. There's a lot more luck involved with a three-of-five match-game format, but most of the time you'll get the best."

Another Senior tour star, 2001 BOWLING DIGEST Senior Pro Bowler of the Year Bob Glass, needs more time to decide on the merits of the PBA changes. However, he has qualms about a player dominating in average only to lose out in match play.

"The rest of it is pretty impressive, especially when they eased up on the TV [lane] conditions so people realize they're bowlers [out here] and not hackers."

A prominent local Michigan bowler, Dale Strike, said even though the changes may not prompt him to spend more time on the tour, "I like the new format better. There's more match play and I like match play. What they're doing is definitely good for bowling."

There are negatives to the revamping, from a proprietor's standpoint, says Taylor Lanes owner Adeline DeBiasi, who has hosted the Detroit PBA tourney for 16 years. "It doesn't really make a big difference to me," she says, "but the majority of my customers don't care for it."

One of the drawbacks, she says, is that some of the stars could get knocked out so early it could hurt attendance. And it will take a while for spectators to get acclimated to the changes. "I have a tough time figuring it all out myself."

The big moneymaker for the house is the pro-am tournament. It suffered not because of format changes, DeBiasi says, but because there were two other PBA events in Michigan in the two weeks leading up to the Detroit Open, a regular event in Grand Rapids and the senior event in Jackson. "We only drew four people from those zip codes, and previously we had 600," she says.

PBA commissioner Hamilton bristles over any reference to "negatives."

"What negatives?" he questions. "You can learn to play under the system we have or not. A good athlete adapts to the conditions. Match play is the most compelling form of competition."

The arena-style setting for the finals is "a big part of the allure," Hamilton says, making fans feel "like they're involved in play." The long-term plan, he says, is to "get to a standing-room-only situation, forcing the PBA to go to a larger venue. Then the trick is to make that venue packed, as well, and not lose the intimacy."

One of bowling's all-time greats, Carmen Salvino, is enamored of the changes. "I'm so happy that the players are finally being rewarded for being the great athletes they are," he says. "Bowlers in my era never were rewarded. This is a real sport now. The players are encouraged to be themselves, where we couldn't do that."

Being himself a week later at the Johnny Petraglia Open in North Brunswick, N.J., was Danny Wiseman, decked out in a bright waist-length shirt adorned with flames. Much like Smith had done a week earlier, Wiseman--who won the tournament--had the crowd stirred up, chanting, and cheering.

Smith may be just the kind of future star upon whom the new PBA is banking. With his exuberant style and one of the highest ball revolution rates of anyone on the tour, the 27-year-old from Simi Valley, Calif., captivated the Taylor Lanes audience. His shots have been clocked as fast as 34 mph, compared with 18 mph for typical tour bowlers. His 27 revs compares with an average of 16 per shot.

"We've got to get [fans] into what we're doing," Smith says. "This is not golf, where everybody has to be dead quiet. If I throw a bad shot, get on me. If I throw a good shot, let me know. Everything is packed in and the eyes are on you. You see heads turn. It's just like tennis. People are focused on you."

He's already focused firmly on the new PBA.

"They better not change a thing," he says. If fans "can't get excited about this, they can't get excited about anything."

RELATED ARTICLE: The look of the new PBA.

THERE HAVE BEEN MYRIAD changes in the PBA since it was purchased in April 2000 by three former Microsoft executives. Among the more significant are beefed-up purses and a firm TV schedule. But perhaps most significant is a new standard tournament format, putting an emphasis on match play--best-of-five matches that eliminate bowlers sooner than before. Major tour events, however, such as the PBA World Championship (formerly PBA National), ABC Masters, U.S. Open, and Tournament of Champions (if it returns), will follow their old formats.

Here, in capsule, is how a standard tournament format works:

* There are five phases over six days, beginning with pre-qualifying in which competitors without priority status can make it to the 128-man field. Those 128 will vie for 32 reserved spots in a nine-game qualifying tournament (called a pre-tournament qualifier or PTQ). The 32 bowlers with the highest cumulative nine-game scores advance to the tournament proper.

* The practice and pro-am phase is next, with fans getting up close with the players, bowling with them, and receiving autographs.

* Days three and four involve qualifying and the beginning of sudden death elimination. The 128-man field is broken into two squads that bowl nine games in one day. The top 64 advance for more qualifying.

* The top 64 bowlers roll nine more games, with totals from round one carrying over. The top 32 18-game scorers advance to sudden death elimination. The other 32 bowler's are knocked out and take home $1,000 each.

* The 32 survivors are seeded according to qualifying position and meet in head-to-head matches (with No. 1 facing No. 32, etc.) in a best-of-five format, regardless of overall pin totals. Losers of the 16 matches take home a $2,250 check.

* On the fifth day, the elimination matches continue. Every three hours, two matches are contested side-by-side in a stadium-style setting. The field is pared from 16 to eight, then to four. A fifth bowler joins those four in the TV stepladder finals as a wild card, based on who of the four eliminated bowlers had the best match-play record (if tied, the bowler with the highest tournament pinfall advances).

* The TV finals consist of four one-game matches, starting with the wild card against the final-four bowler who lost the most match games in sudden death rounds. Semifinal Match 1 follows, pairing the two qualifiers from the other half of the bracket. Then, in Semifinal Match 2, the wild card winner faces the bowler opposite him in the bracket. The two semifinal winners will meet for the title and $40,000 first prize.

COPYRIGHT 2002 Century Publishing
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