PBA World Series of Bowling
Inaugural event kicks off this August in Detroit area

Scheduling, tournament format, field sizes and prize money for this summer’s new Professional Bowlers Association World Series of Bowling in Detroit has been confirmed.

The inaugural event, which begins Aug. 2 and runs through Sept. 7, 2009, promises to be a revolutionary festival of competitive bowling boasting a $2 million prize fund and seven ESPN telecasts. The schedule is available at a new dedicated website, www.pbaworldseriesofbowling.com. Highlights include:

● Larger exempt Lumber Liquidators PBA Tour fields of 72, including three exemptions for international players and one “golden parachute” exemption to a player who lost his/her exemption in the past.

● Tournament Qualifying rounds, scheduled on weekends, will advance a minimum of 11 players into the main draw of World Series events.

● A revamped format will reward top qualifiers with byes through the first rounds of match play.

● The PBA Women’s Series presented by USBC will have more exempt players (18) and feature TQR rounds for the first time, advancing two players into each Women’s Series field.

● The schedule includes seven Lumber Liquidators PBA Tour events, five PBA Women’s Series presented by USBC events including the inaugural PBA Women’s World Championship, a rejuvenated PBA Senior World Championship and at least nine side-event sweepers or shootouts providing “something for everyone” in competitive bowling.

“The PBA World Series of Bowling will be a tremendous catalyst for both the revitalization of competitive bowling in America and for greater expansion of the PBA brand into international markets,” said PBA Chief Operating Officer Tom Clark. “It will also enable the PBA to capitalize on revolutionary television and online programming strategies and offer unique marketing and sponsorship opportunities.”

The PBA World Series of Bowling (WSOB) begins at Taylor Lanes in Taylor, Mich., with the Motor City Open, an open-entry Lumber Liquidators PBA Tour event utilizing a traditional qualifying, round robin match play and stepladder TV show format.

Following the Motor City Open, the WSOB moves to Thunderbowl Lanes in Allen Park for the next four weeks of high stakes bowling, including championships on all the PBA Experience lane patterns and the PBA World Championship, the first major championship of the season. The World Series of Bowling will culminate with “ESPN Week,” Sept. 5-7, featuring the taping of seven shows for broadcast on the network during the fall PBA Tour season.

“Every active PBA member – in fact, any competitive scratch bowler and PBA Experience league members – should make the pilgrimage to the Detroit area to compete in the World Series,” said Clark. “And any fan or member of the bowling industry will find these ‘40 days in August’ to be filled with some of the most unique and rewarding opportunities in the history of our sport.”

The PBA’s Web site pba.com will provide frequent live streaming coverage of World Series of Bowling events on Xtra Frame and a daily talk show will emanate from Thunderbowl.

The second half of the 2009-2010 Lumber Liquidators PBA Tour season will be more traditional, with live television and stops across the country between January and April, including three major championships – the Tournament of Champions, USBC Masters and U.S. Open.

Further updates and details will be posted regularly on pba.com regarding the PBA World Series of Bowling and the rest of the 2009-2010 Lumber Liquidators PBA Tour season, including entry and special exemption application information.

PBA WORLD SERIES OF BOWLING FACTS & FIGURES (SUBJECT TO CHANGE):

FIELDS FOR CHEETAH, VIPER, CHAMELEON, SCORPION AND SHARK CHAMPIONSHIPS
Exemptions from 2008-09 Point list/titles: 40.
Exemptions from 2009 Tour Trials (to be contested in Detroit in May): 8
Tournament Qualifying Round entries: 11
2008-09 TQR points leader
Exemptions from Regional Players Invitational: 7
International entries: 3
Medical deferment: 1
Golden parachute: 1
Total field: 72

(PBA Motor City Open and PBA World Championship are open field events)

FIELDS FOR PBA WOMEN’S SERIES PRESENTED BY USBC (FOUR EVENTS)
Exemptions from 2009 PBA Women’s Series Tour Trials (to be contested in Las Vegas in August): 12
Tournament Qualifying Round entries: 2
Exemptions for 2008-09 PBA Women’s Series Champions: 6
Total: 20

(PBA Women’s World Championship is an open field event)

PBA SENIOR WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
is an open field event.

INTERNATIONAL EXEMPTIONS
Three players will be awarded full exemptions throughout the WSOB events. One spot will be awarded by the European Bowling Tour (EBT) through an agreement with the PBA. The other two spots will be chosen from player applications. Information on how to apply will appear online soon. The three selections will be made in June.

GOLDEN PARACHUTE EXEMPTION
Any former exempt player on the PBA Tour who lost his/her exemption at any point in the past four years may apply for this new exempt position. Following this year, the “golden parachute” exemption will come from the previous year’s crop of players who lose their exemption due to points. The exemption will be announced in May.

ENTRY FEES
Non-member TQR entry: $325 ($350 if paid on day of the TQR)
Non-member open field entry: $600
PBA member TQR Entry: $300 ($325 if paid on day of the TQR)
PBA member open field entry: $500

PRIZE FUNDS FOR PROFESSIONAL EVENTS
For field of 72 exempt tour events: $192,600 total purse ($25,000 first)
For Women’s Series field of 20 events: $50,800 total purse ($10,000 first)

SIDE EVENTS/SWEEPERS
Prize fund payout ratio: 5:1
All side action entry fees go directly into the prize fund; no lineage or administrative fees will be deducted. Three side tournaments with $250 entry fee are restricted to non-exempt players. Six side sweepers with $100 and $80 entry fees are open to all players, exempt or not.
In order to participate in any side event, a bowler must enter at least one of the main tournaments or any of the TQRs. Sweepers will be named after the lane patterns that will be used for them.

FORMATS
The first Lumber Liquidators PBA Tour event of the World Series is an open-field PBA Motor City Open, with a traditional qualifying rounds followed by 24 games of round robin for the top 24 qualifiers and a 5-man stepladder finals.

The five World Series “animal pattern” championships (and concurrent four Women’s Series championships, will use the following format:

Day 1
Practice Session

Day 2
Two seven-game qualifying rounds for 72 PBA Tour and 20 Women’s Series players (PBA Tour field will be cut to top 28, Women’s Series to top 8)

Day 3 (best 4 out of 7 games single-elimination match play)
PBA Tour Round of 28 (qualifiers #5 thru #28)
PBA Tour Round of 16 (Round of 28 winners plus qualifiers #1 thru #4)
Women’s Series Round of 8
PBA Tour Round of 8 (top four advance to TV finals)
Women’s Series Round of 4 (top two advance to TV finals)

Day 4
ESPN tape-delayed telecast