The Professional Bowlers Association (PBA) has no player salaries, which allows it to reinvest revenue into marketing and growing the sport. As a niche sport, the PBA can tailor its content to dedicated bowling fans. It has over 3,000 members from 27 countries and hosts international events. However, athletes lack financial security due to low earnings. Most events are in small bowling alleys, limiting revenue. The PBA's deal with Fox Sports increased prize money but it faces competition for viewers from larger Sunday sports. As a solely-owned organization, the PBA faces higher risk than franchised leagues.

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Company Profile
PBA SWOT ANALYSIS
Koree Kitchens
Full Sail University

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SWOT ANALYSIS
The Professional Bowlers Association (PBA) is the major sanctioning body for the sport of ten-
pin bowling in the United States. The PBA has focused on growing its international reach over
the years and has made major strides in competing with other major sports. The PBA is a solely
own organization that could be prone to risk with other leagues having a bigger fanbase and
higher revenue on a yearly basis.
Strengths
No salaries for athletes
The PBA works on a per tournament payout. The PBA has a model very similar to other sports
like golf and tennis where athletes make money based on their placement in each tournament.
The PBA requires an entry fee which offsets much of the payouts given to its bowlers with the
rest of the money coming from sponsors and their TV deal. Having no salary commitment to its
bowlers the PBA can focus on using its revenue towards additional marketing and dedication to
growing the sport.
Strengths Weaknesses
• No salaries for athletes
• Niche sport
• International reach
• Athletes lack financial security
• Small venues
Opportunities Threats
• Contract with Fox Sports 1
• Fanbase can participate
• No franchise model leaves more risk for
owners
• Sunday telecast competes with PGA and
NFL

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Niche sport
The PBA is a niche sport which captures an audience that have been following bowling for most
of their lives. With many of the PBA fans being bowlers themselves, they are able to allocate
their resources towards a specific market. With the knowledge of their target market it gives the
more of an opportunity to tailor their telecast and marketing material towards what their audience
wants.
International Reach
The PBA has over 3,000 members and has representatives from over 27 countries. Some of the
best bowlers on tour are foreign born players. Each year the PBA host multiple events in Asia
and Europe on the main tour. In 2012 the PBA announced a partnership with the World Tenpin
Bowling Association to create the PBA international tour to further grow the exposure of the
sport worldwide.
Weaknesses
Athletes lack financial security
While the PBA has the benefit of not having to pay salaries to its athletes this leaves the athletes
with a lack of financial security. In 2019 only the top 15 bowlers earned over $60,000 with only
the top 50 earning over $20,000. With the low earnings available on the PBA tour this causes
many of the bowlers to participate part-time or to leave the tour all together. The high turnover of
athletes leaves the PBA looking for its face of the league very often.
Small Venues
With the exception of a few events every year, most PBA tour events are held in local bowling
alleys across the United States. Many of these bowling alleys can only have a maximum fan
occupancy of 100 fans limiting the amount of revenue every event can make. As opposed to
other powerhouse sports which have stadiums of over 30,000 fans the PBA has to find other
ways to engage fans outside of attending events.
Strengths
Contract with Fox Sports 1
In 2018 the PBA and Fox Sports announced a deal that would air the Sunday telecast on Fox
Sports 1 through the end of the 2022 season. The contract with Fox Sports has allowed the PBA
to allocate more funds in the prize pool. For the 2020 season the PBA announced an additional
$400,000 in prize money and an end of the season tournament with the winner taking home

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$100,000. The growing prize funds could lead to more bowlers joining the tour and creating
more competition for the sport.
Fanbase can participate
Unlike other major sports where fans can only participate on an amateur level unless signed to a
contract, anyone can pay an entry fee and bowl in a PBA tour event. Bowling is one of the most
played amateur sports with over 2 million bowlers belonging to the USBC and over 67 million
people will bowl at least once throughout the year.
Threats
No franchise model leaves higher threat of risk for owners.
The PBA is owned by a Bowlero Corp the largest owner and operator of bowling centers in the
world. While the company is a very strong company, the hold all the risk that comes along with
the PBA. Unlike sports leagues that implement a franchised based owner system, they are unable
to share the risk being the sole owners of the league.
Sunday telecast competes with much larger sports
For over 60 years the PBA has had continuous telecast of their television finals hosted on
Sunday. While it has become a tradition for many fans to watch the finals every Sunday, Sunday
is home to many other, much more popular sports, doing the same thing. The NFL, PGA, and
Nascar are a few sports that have their events held on Sunday. With the large competition the
PBA can struggle with gaining the audience from those sports and may lose some fans to bigger
events as well.

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References:
The Bowlers Journal. (n.d.). Retrieved from
https://www.bowlersjournal.com/industry-demographics/
Earnings: 2019 Go Bowling! PBA Tour. (n.d.). Retrieved from
https://www.pba.com/SeasonStats/TotalWinnings/132
PBA and WTBA unveil international tour. (2012, February). Retrieved from
https://www.worldbowling.org/news/2012/02/pba-and-wtba-unveil-international-tour/
2019 Go Bowling! PBA Tour Schedule. (n.d.). Retrieved April 5, 2020, from
https://www.pba.com/Tournaments/Season/132
Vint, B. (2019, March 20). News: PBA and FOX Sports Announce Multi-Year, Multi-Platform
Deal; PBA Returns to Broadcast TV in 2019. Retrieved from
https://www.pba.com/articles/PBA-and-FOX-Sports-Announce-Multi-Year-Multi-
Platform-Deal3b-PBA-Returns-to-Broadcast-TV-in-2019
Vint, B. (2019, November 8). News: PBA Adds Nearly Half a Million Dollars to Prize Fund for
2020 Season on FOX; Three Events to Pay $100,000. Retrieved from
https://www.pba.com/articles/PBA-Adds-Nearly-Half-a-Million-Dollars-to-Prize-Fund-
for-2020-Season-on-FOX3b-Three-Events-to-Pay-24100000
McCormick, K. (2017, September 7). 7 Benefits of Niche Marketing. Retrieved from
https://thrivehive.com/niche-marketing-small-business/
Scheneider, J. (2019, September 10). News: Bowlero Corp Announces Purchase of the
Professional Bowlers Association. Retrieved from
https://www.pba.com/articles/Bowlero-Corp-Announces-Purchase-of-the-Professional-
Bowlers-Association