Rob Stone Returns as Play-By-Play Announcer for Fox Sports Telecasts
of 2019 Go Bowling! PBA Tour
“Hambone” Creator Reunited with Analyst Randy Pedersen, Sideline Reporter Kimberly Pressler
LOS ANGELES (Aug. 21, 2018) – Today, FOX Sports and the Professional Bowlers Association announce the lead broadcasting team for the 2019 Go Bowling! PBA Tour, including the return of Rob Stone as play-by-play announcer, along with analyst Randy Pedersen and reporter Kimberly Pressler.
The trio will make its FOX debut on Sunday, Dec. 23, with the PBA Clash on FOX. The announcement was made today by John Entz, President of Production & Executive Producer, FOX Sports, and PBA CEO-Commissioner Tom Clark.
“Rob is a dynamic and versatile sports broadcaster who is passionate about bowling,” said Entz. “And he’s already a legend in the sport for inventing the term ‘hambone’.”
“We are very excited to have Rob Stone back with the PBA,” Clark said. “He became part of the bowling family when he was our play-by-play voice years ago with Pedersen and Pressler and he never left. We are very proud of the great career Rob has built at FOX Sports and look forward to the passion he will bring when he returns to our events.”
A veteran sports broadcaster, Stone was most recently the lead studio host for FOX Sports coverage of the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia™ live from Moscow. Since joining FOX Sports in 2012, Rob has served as the lead studio host for the network’s soccer, college football and college basketball programming.
Stone was PBA’s play-by-play announcer from 2008 until 2012. He endeared himself to the bowling public with his eagerness to learn the sport, his sense of humor, an enthusiastic personality and his immediate connection with Pedersen, a PBA Hall of Famer and veteran color analyst. Learning that three consecutive strikes in bowling is called a “turkey,” but there was no common term for four strikes in a row, Stone coined the expression “hambone.” His catch phrase took on a life of its own and remains a part of bowling’s lexicon.
“Back in 2008, the PBA unexpectedly became a cherished part of my career,” said Stone. “The hope to be reunited with the world’s best bowlers has existed for years. I am honored to return and cannot wait to get back to the lanes with my old partners Randy and Kimberly, and my many other co-workers and lifetime bowling friends.”
Stone returns to the play-by-play booth with Pedersen, who will provide analysis for PBA telecasts for the 17th consecutive year. Pedersen ranked among the Tour's top players during a 25-year career on the lanes. The 13-time PBA Tour champion was inducted into the PBA Hall of Fame in 2011. He revived his professional career in 2013 after seven years by competing on the PBA50 Tour where he won his first title in his PBA50 Tour debut.
“I’m personally very excited to have an opportunity to work with my old buddy, Rob Stone, again,” Pedersen said. “We developed a great relationship and friendship, and we’ve maintained it ever since. And I’m looking forward to the PBA moving to FOX Sports over the coming years. It’s very thrilling for professional bowling.”
Pressler has also been a fixture on the tour, serving as PBA’s sideline reporter since 2010. The Miss USA 1999 has covered events for ABC, MTV, ESPN, FOX Sports, NBC and the SPEED Network, ranging from the ACIS Fitness National Championships, Traxxas TORC truck racing series, Red Bull X-Fighters series to the X-Games. Pressler once worked for the U.S. Department of Energy at a nuclear power plant.
“I’m honored to be joining the PBA telecasts on FOX and am thrilled to have Rob back on the PBA telecast team,” Pressler added. “I’m looking forward to the inaugural season with FOX Sports and working alongside both Rob and Randy again. This will be the best season yet.”
The PBA makes its FOX television debut on Sunday, Dec. 23, 2018, with the PBA Clash from Houston, Texas (FOX, 2:30 or 4:30 p.m. ET, depending on the viewer’s location).
About PBA
Now in its 60th year, the Professional Bowlers Association (PBA) is an organization of more than 3,000 of the best bowlers from 27 countries who compete in Go Bowling! PBA Tour, PBA International Tour, PBA50 Tour, and PBA, PBA50 and PBA-PWBA Women’s Regional events. In 2018, the PBA celebrated its 59th consecutive year of nationally-televised competition, reaching bowling fans around the world who follow PBA activities through the PBA Network which includes Xtra Frame on FloBowling, the PBA’s exclusive online bowling channel, FOX Sports, FS1 and CBS Sports Network, and the PBA on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube. PBA sponsors include Barbasol, Brunswick, Ebonite International, FloBowling.com, GoBowling.com, MOTIV, 900 Global, PBA Bowling Challenge Mobile Game, Storm Products and the United States Bowling Congress, among others. Learn more at www.pba.com.
About FOX Sports
FOX Sports is the umbrella entity representing 21st Century FOX’s wide array of multi-platform US-based sports assets. Built with brands capable of reaching more than 100 million viewers in a single weekend, FOX Sports includes ownership and interests in linear television networks, digital and mobile programming, broadband platforms, multiple web sites, joint-venture businesses and several licensing partnerships. FOX Sports includes the sports television arm of the FOX Broadcasting Company; FS1, FS2; FOX Sports Regional Networks, their affiliated regional web sites and national programming; FOX Soccer Plus; FOX Deportes and FOX College Sports. In addition, FOX Sports also encompasses FOX Sports Digital, including FOXSports.com and the FOX Sports app. Also included in the Group are FOX’s interests in joint-venture businesses Big Ten Network and BTN 2Go, as well as a licensing agreement that established the FOX Sports Radio Network.
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