Leagues and getting the word out

[NewToBowling]

Is it just me or do bowling centers do a **** poor job of advertising their leagues.

All they do is leave flyers at the center or haphazardly mention it when you come in to play games.

I'm in a league now. That means they have my email. They probably have an email subscriber list. So far I have not received any emails regarding upcoming leagues. Yes, I'm in one of your leagues but may be interested in signing up for another one.

But I guess this is the AMF business model. I've received countless emails regarding parties, late night specials, etc. But nothing on leagues.

And there isn't even a sign up form online. There is only a "I'm Interested" link that sends an email to the local center.

There should be a way to look up all leagues and league details (time, cost, length, etc) and give bowlers ability to sign up instantly online.

[Amyers]

It's not just you. Most centers and leagues are so outdated on their advertising efforts that the 1950's look modern.

[scottymoney]

Yup it is pretty bad. For someone who is there 3 nights a week I pay attention now. But unless you go looking for it, the information will never find you by chance.

[Aslan]

Hello Bowlmor.

Bowlmor is the harbinger of death to bowling centers. They bought a ton of AMF houses and realized they could keep the profitable ones open and sell the ones where the land is valuable and owned by the center. It was such a profitable idea, they bought Brunswick centers shortly thereafter and adopted the same model:

Step 1: Limit hours (forces out daytime/senior leagues).
Step 2: Replace staff. Emphasize lighter staffing, get rid of older staff and anyone currently getting benefits it at all possible.
Step 3: Improve aesthetics and entertainment (bar, liquor, etc..).

And I totally agree on the league thing. Most of the time you can go to a website and try to find a league on a day that'll work...maybe even look at the scoresheets to see if it's a good fit. But AMF completely ruined that by making it a corporate type of program so now if you want to join a league, you have to send a general request, hope it gets forwarded to the proper person, who ISN'T fired or quitting (we're on our 5th center manager this year), and then have them try to call you about leagues at their convenience...then tell you about the 6-12 leagues they have...none of which sound appealing.

And once you do sign up...then you get to experience Bowlmor in all it's a glory....a center with inexperienced (cheap) staff, too few waitresses/bartenders, and equipment that they can't keep running...that doesn't open until 5-6PM during the week.

[bowl1820]

The PinChasers chain here had a billboard up near where I live and some radio advertising and "The 102.5 Bone Bowling League" you get 2 games of bowling and a 16 oz Beer and bowling with some DJ's and once or twice I saw a tv ad on a local channel.

[RobLV1]

Even here in Vegas where there should be intense competition between the many bowling centers for league bowlers, it pretty much depends on personal motivation of the league coordinators and, in some cases, league secretaries, to recruit new or returning league bowlers. Even with this, I'm currently bowling in a 60-team league that takes up the entire bowling center on Thursday nights!

[Blomer]

I have three centers n my town and two just over the boarder in Wisconsin. Only the Brunswick center sends out emails about leagues. The house I bowl at doesn't. I wouldn't know anything if it wasn't for my teammates. They leave fliers on the counter for summer league though.

[Timmyb]

Hello Bowlmor.

Bowlmor is the harbinger of death to bowling centers. They bought a ton of AMF houses and realized they could keep the profitable ones open and sell the ones where the land is valuable and owned by the center. It was such a profitable idea, they bought Brunswick centers shortly thereafter and adopted the same model:

Step 1: Limit hours (forces out daytime/senior leagues).
Step 2: Replace staff. Emphasize lighter staffing, get rid of older staff and anyone currently getting benefits it at all possible.
Step 3: Improve aesthetics and entertainment (bar, liquor, etc..).

And I totally agree on the league thing. Most of the time you can go to a website and try to find a league on a day that'll work...maybe even look at the scoresheets to see if it's a good fit. But AMF completely ruined that by making it a corporate type of program so now if you want to join a league, you have to send a general request, hope it gets forwarded to the proper person, who ISN'T fired or quitting (we're on our 5th center manager this year), and then have them try to call you about leagues at their convenience...then tell you about the 6-12 leagues they have...none of which sound appealing.

And once you do sign up...then you get to experience Bowlmor in all it's a glory....a center with inexperienced (cheap) staff, too few waitresses/bartenders, and equipment that they can't keep running...that doesn't open until 5-6PM during the week.

You forgot Step 4: Never clean the equipment.

[Jessiewoodard57]

You forgot Step 4: Never clean the equipment.

That goes with step 2. The old staff cared about how things ran and looked. The new staff are there for a paycheck only.

[white_rabbitt]

I definitely feel everyone's frustration over this. I seem to always find out about leagues after they have already started. Part of it is my fault for not being a bit more proactive but even if you do find a league list online or somewhere in the center, they seem to be starting in 1 week. Makes it difficult to plan out and get teammates together.
Really no excuse in this day and age to not have a digital list of leagues that could easily be posted on the center's website and/or sent out to an email list.

[mc_runner]

I'm lucky in that my center does send out emails when leagues are forming, but really those are only going to go out to people who are already in leagues/on their lists. The center definitely is league-centric and is trying.

[TonyInPortland]

Yeah, I was talking to 2 different centers, deciding on which one to join a new league, because my other center is closed being remodeled, and one of them, I talked to several people at the center and none of them seemed that enthusiastic about me joining a league there.

The other one, the guy was good, he called me back and gave me some free games, but then, when it came down to the last couple weeks to make a decision, he was going to call me back the next day after three PM and it was 2 weeks later and he had someone else call me back. By then I had already commited to a different league. If he had called me back when he said, I would have joined the league at his place.

I'm sure those people are busy, but you would think they would make a big effort to recruit league bowlers.

[jab5325]

Getting the word out about tournaments is even worse.

Both of my local houses have league listings/contact info on the website. In fact, when I got back into the game last year, the owner of the center personally called me, invited me out to throw a few sometime, and matched me up with a league and built me a team even though the league already started.

However, for tournaments, the house doesn't have any info on its website. One Easter tourney last year had 8 4-man teams, and the big holiday bash this year had 10 5-man teams (which was an amazing turnout according to many).

The other center is often way late in putting up tournament information, if at all. Though, they do include signup forms.

[AlexNC]

The family owned centers in my area seem to do a pretty good job on social media to get the word out.

[billf]

Our center is family owned. They do a great job utilizing Facebook with the help of many. The website sucks. For some reason they don't even own it so updates are always too late and never include any good league information. The sign out front is our big league recruiter lol

[Jekyll & Hyde]

i know if i bowled in a league in the previous year they would call me telling me the league is about to begin and meeting is this date and time. i bowl in 2 different houses and the one that is family own does alot more getting the word out then the AMF run alley does.