PBA and ETBF reach agreement on PBA World Series of Bowling

The Professional Bowlers Association (PBA) and the European Tenpin Bowling Federation (ETBF) recently met and agreed to explore areas of common interest for both the short term and over the coming years.

We are indeed in the early stages of our considerations, but we are pleased to present the first visible step, which is establishing a link between the newly created PBA World Series of Bowling and the European Bowling Tour.

The link is established by qualifying one EBT player into the field of 72 bowlers during the five exempt tournaments in the World Series of Bowling. There are two more tournaments in the series (both open), which brings the total number to seven tournaments.

In order to give the highest ranked EBT player sufficient time to prepare for this exciting opportunity, the internal EBT competition for this exempt spot will be limited to the first seven stops on the EBT 2009.

The EBT player winning this spot will be the highest ranked player in the men’s division of the European Bowling Tour after the Brunswick Aalborg International. If the highest ranked player declines this opportunity, the spot will be awarded to the 2nd ranked man etc.

There will be 3 international exemptions available in the field of 72 for the 5 exempt tournaments. EBT players, who don’t earn the one spot guaranteed to the EBT through the agreement with PBA, but are interested in bowling in the World Series of Bowling, may apply directly to PBA for consideration for the other 2 spots. Information regarding this process will be made available at www.pba.com.

PBA’s World Series of Bowling consists of the following tournaments:

1: 2-6 August 2009 in Detroit, Michigan
Motor City Open in Taylor Lanes, Taylor Michigan

2: 8-12 August 2009 in Detroit, Michigan
Cheetah Championship in Thunderbowl Lanes, Allen Park

3: 14-16 August 2009 in Detroit, Michigan
Viper Championship in Thunderbowl Lanes, Allen Park

4: 18-20 August 2009 in Detroit, Michigan
Chameleon Championship in Thunderbowl Lanes, Allen Park

5: 22-24 August 2009 in Detroit, Michigan
Scorpion Championship in Thunderbowl Lanes, Allen Park

6: 27-29 August 2009 in Detroit, Michigan
Shark Championship in Thunderbowl Lanes, Allen Park

7: 30-29 August 2009 in Detroit, Michigan
PBA World Championship in Thunderbowl Lanes, Allen Park

The finals for tournaments in the World Series of Bowling will take place from 5-7 September and will be shown on ESPN on a tape delayed basis.

The two tournaments marked with blue text are open tournaments, where any bowler can enter. The five other tournaments are the exempt tournaments. However, any EBT player, besides the player qualified directly from the EBT, will also have a chance to participate since there will be 11 Tournament Qualifying Round entries for each of the 5 exempt tournaments.

In addition to the 7 tournaments conducted as part of the World Series of Bowling, there will be side events such as sweepers conducted on a regular basis during the series. All entry fees in these side events will go directly to prize funds, without any charge for lineage or administration.

The PBA World Series of Bowling in Detroit was created so players can play in a series of top events, while keeping travel expenses to a minimum. The period of the World Series of Bowling fits perfectly with the break in the EBT schedule.

For the five exempt tournaments, the entry fee for non-PBA members is $ 325 ($ 350 if paid on the day of the tournament) per Tournament Qualifying Round, while the entry fee for each of the two open tournaments is $ 600. If you are a PBA member, there is an entry fee reduction of $ 25 for each of the Tournament Qualifying Rounds and $ 100 for each of the opens.

The total prize fund for each of the five exempt tournaments is $ 192.600 ($ 25.000 first prize) and exempt players are guaranteed a minimum payment of $ 1.400. The total prize funds for the two open tournaments still are to be published, but we can quote www.pba.com as follows:

The inaugural series, which begins 2 August and runs through 7 September 2009, promises to be a revolutionary festival of competitive bowling boasting a $ 2 million prize fund and seven ESPN telecasts.

We agree in ETBF that PBA’s World Series of Bowling is going to be an exiting and attractive series of tournaments to go for in Detroit in August-September 2009.

For more information, check www.pbaworldseriesofbowling.com.


Kim Thorsgaard Jensen
EBT Director
 

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