RECORD TURNOUT EXPECTED FOR 2009 USBC OPEN CHAMPIONSHIPS

The final numbers are in, and more than 17,000 teams will head to Las Vegas for the 2009 United States Bowling Congress Open Championships, making it the second-largest tournament in the event's 106-year history.

With 17,200 teams, the 2009 event will just miss the all-time high of 17,285 teams, set when the National Bowling Stadium in Reno, Nev., opened its doors in 1995, but will easily eclipse the non-Reno record of 13,222 teams, which was set at the 2005 event in Baton Rouge, La., the tournament's first visit to Louisiana.

The 2009 USBC Open Championships will begin Feb. 21 and run for a record 154 consecutive days before concluding on July 24. During that time, more than 85,000 bowlers will make the journey to Las Vegas to compete for more than $7 million in prize money. Competition will run from 7 a.m. until 2 a.m. daily.

The event, which has been held in 48 cities in 26 states, will make its first trip to the Entertainment Capital of the World since 1986 when it featured more than 10,000 teams for the first time (10,019). It again will be held at Las Vegas' Cashman Center and feature 60 lanes for the first time outside of the National Bowling Stadium, where the tournament has been held every third year since 1995.

Just like Las Vegas, the Open Championships has changed and grown in the last 23 years, and the tournament will unveil brand new state-of-the-art video scoreboards in 2009. It will be the first upgrade of its kind since the introduction of automatic scoring at the 1979 event in Tampa, Fla.

"Certainly, the entry numbers speak well for the event as well as the location," said Jack Mordini, USBC Vice President of Tournaments and Events. "Taking the tournament to the entertainment-rich environment in Las Vegas has shown the popularity of the Open Championships and the strong draw that is Las Vegas."

Construction on the one-of-a-kind tournament venue began on Dec. 15 and is expected to conclude on Feb. 1. The amount of lumber used is enough to construct at least five three-bedroom homes, and more than six miles of wiring also is required to handle the tournament's electrical needs.

Bowling fans now have the opportunity to watch the transformation of the venue from an empty convention center to bowling's grandest stage with five interactive cameras placed throughout Cashman Center. The cameras can be accessed through USBCopen.com and will be available throughout the Open Championships so families, fans and friends can keep an eye on the action.

For more information on the 2009 Open Championships, visit USBCopen.com.