The PBA Is Setting The Bar For Creativity

Absence makes the heart grow fonder, supposedly, and America and sports are locked in a love affair that is waiting to be rekindled.

When the competitions we crave are back in full flow, it won’t be soon enough. Despite the obvious necessity of the shutdown, it hasn’t been much fun having so little to do these past months, but the lack of sporting entertainment to fill these oddest of times has made it even tougher.

Thankfully, there are flickers of action already upon us, a prelude to what is likely to be a jam-packed fall extravaganza of athletic battle. And as more events get underway and efforts to fill those holes in the calendar come to fruition, there is a push to put the fan – the long-suffering, recently starved fan – first.

Rule changes, condensed schedules and the overall uncertainty of the pandemic bring a pressurized feel to sports’ return. But there’s also a desire, and perhaps a requirement, for sports’ leaders to become more imaginative than ever.
 
The power of that innovative leadership is being tested first by a sport seeking its own type of revival from those Saturday mornings in the 1970s when it would outdraw college football and basketball in the ratings … bowling.

“(We are) thrilled to be one of the first professional sports properties to return to live television,” PBA CEO Colie Edison told me, via email. “While spectators are not on site, we have utilized multiple tactics to create deeper engagement with our fans at home.”

Part of that creativity comes in the form of sports betting. The PBA recently signed a new deal with FOX Bet, which should help fans feel more involved with bowling events. Edison views the FOX Bet partnership as a great chance to showcase the PBA’s top events.

“We’ve been able to leverage our FOX Sports partnership to bring the PBA Tour to a newer, bigger audience,” Edison added. “The key to all this has been to stay flexible and to be creative.”

Those glossy lanes might not be the most obvious choice for a forward-thinking leap into the unknown, but in case you haven’t been paying attention, the sport is going through some heady times amid all the current upheaval.

With a range of big personalities, a reimagined tour and a dynamic, 36-year-old female CEO in Edison – a former reality television star on MTV’s The Real World: Denver – the Professional Bowlers Association is taking a fearless approach to its creativity. 

This week features King of the Lanes, a challenge-style, three-night format on FS1. Forget about incessant preliminary rounds and build ups. King of the Lanes cuts right to the action.

Each night, two bowlers square off across a single frame for the right to take on the reigning King. The process is then repeated in the second hour of the episode. If the challenger is victorious, they then take the crown and defend it next time around.

Monday’s action saw 56-year-old Hall of Famer Norm Duke take down 47-time title winner and PBA Hall of Famer Walter Ray Williams Jr. in a battle of true legends. Duke then went on to win the crown from defending champ Wes Malott, and was able to hold off contender Anthony Simonsen to retain the throne.
 

In a clash of the sport’s generational showmen, Kyle Troup is set to meet Pete Weber in the second half of Wednesday night’s show.

“You don’t have any time to settle in. The pressure is on right from the start. It is fast-paced and a true head-to-head,” Troup told me. “The fans on television are going to be into it because the drama is there immediately. There is no room for error.”

Troup is the Tour’s leading character, famed for his afro hairstyle and his choice of outrageously colored clothing. He’s not afraid to speak his mind, and, of course, neither is Weber. Theatrical fireworks can be expected.

“I don’t want to give everything away because I want people to be surprised on the broadcast. But there is going to be a lot going on out there,” Troup added. “Don’t be shocked if there are some fighting words and trash talk.”

The unique circumstances that the world is positioned in means that sports will have more flexibility than ever to tinker around with its product. Competitions can be designed specifically to try to engineer a dramatic outcome, and that’s what’s happening with King of the Lanes.

“It is the kind of thing that everyone can understand and appreciate,” said FOX Sports PBA analyst Randy Pedersen. “Like a mix of the schoolyard, where everyone wants to knock off the best guy, and a boxing match, where the newest challenger takes a crack at upsetting the champ. It is sports, but it is also theater.”
 

Pedersen is thrilled about the opportunity of heightening the drama.

“I’ve been told I’m allowed to stir the pot a little bit,” he added. “It is going to be competitive stuff out there on the lanes, and some great entertainment.”

Troup doesn’t want the fun to be limited to bowling’s hardcore supporters and is intent on producing a high-octane performance aimed at drawing a new generation of fans.

“You don’t even have to love bowling to enjoy this,” Troup said. “It is a great opportunity to get more people involved, to have fun and to make them realize that we have something good going here.”

All sports will face, and hopefully embrace, the need to get the love affair with their fan base restarted. For now, pardon the pun, it is bowling that gets to strike first.
 

Here’s what others have said …

Colie Edison, PBA CEO: “Our dynamic series of events from the Strike Derby and Summer Clash in June, to our current King of the Lanes series, showcase the immense talent of our elite bowlers. With online wagering through FOX Bet Sportsbook and an exciting consumer promotion with our Go Bowling! Golden Strike giveaway, viewers can win free games of bowling.”

Randy Pedersen, FOX Sports PBA analyst: “This is a mixed bag of some of the greatest players from the past and present, along with a couple of the PWBA stars. We’ve got a nice variety of action and great players.”

Jeff Richgels, 11thframe.com: “If a bowling coach ever wants to show a student the difference in setting up a lane correctly and shimwrecking it, Monday night’s first two shows of the PBA King of the Lanes would be the perfect vehicle. Hall of Famer Norm Duke won both shows, but how he grabbed the crown in the first one and retained it in the second could not have been more different.”