Here's an idea for a bowling center to increase income

[MikeMed]

Put in cameras focused on the pin deck. Keep a rotating set of videos - maybe the last 10 or 20. Sell the short videos of particular shots (probably hard spares) to bowlers who request them - for a couple of $. Maybe as high as $5.

My 9yo recently picked up (on purpose, not just randomly) a 7-9 split. She would have loved a video of that...

[Ryster]

Bowling centers will not make the investment in such a system, when virtually every customer that comes in has a smartphone with a video camera on it. It is not uncommon for open bowlers and league bowlers these days to grab their smartphones and record friends/family/teammates going for split conversions or 300 games.

It would be a tough sell to try and charge customers money for something they can record for free with their own equipment.

[MikeMed]

Bowling centers will not make the investment in such a system, when virtually every customer that comes in has a smartphone with a video camera on it. It is not uncommon for open bowlers and league bowlers these days to grab their smartphones and record friends/family/teammates going for split conversions or 300 games.

It would be a tough sell to try and charge customers money for something they can record for free with their own equipment.

1. Recording every tough split throw in hope that you make it is a hassle. I don't know anyone who does it.

2. The quality of the proposed method would be better. Closer in, better focus, etc.

[J Anderson]

1. Recording every tough split throw in hope that you make it is a hassle. I don't know anyone who does it.

2. The quality of the proposed method would be better. Closer in, better focus, etc.

I agree that the vast majority of successful tough split conversions are probably not recorded. Having cameras set up to record the pin action also would most likely produce a better quality result than a smart phone from seventy five feet away.
Never the less I agree with Ryster. The cost of the cameras and the data storage plus the labor to set them all up against the rarity of something memorable being recorded and someone being willing to pay for the recording... I just don’t see there being a reasonable return on investment.

[Ryster]

1. Recording every tough split throw in hope that you make it is a hassle. I don't know anyone who does it.

2. The quality of the proposed method would be better. Closer in, better focus, etc.

It could be a regional thing, but most league and open bowlers around here grab their smartphones and hit record when someone goes for a tough split (7-10, 4-6-7-10, 5-7-10, etc.) Same with a 300 game...as soon as someone starts their 10th frame those phones are up and recording. If the person makes the split or gets the 300, the video is instantly sent to the bowler (sometimes they get multiple angles from different people recording.)

Smartphone video quality these days is superb. Plus with the smartphone, you get not only the spare itself but the bowler's reaction and the crowd response.

[boatman37]

It could be a regional thing, but most league and open bowlers around here grab their smartphones and hit record when someone goes for a tough split (7-10, 4-6-7-10, 5-7-10, etc.) Same with a 300 game...as soon as someone starts their 10th frame those phones are up and recording. If the person makes the split or gets the 300, the video is instantly sent to the bowler (sometimes they get multiple angles from different people recording.)

Smartphone video quality these days is superb. Plus with the smartphone, you get not only the spare itself but the bowler's reaction and the crowd response.

I see people record potential 300's but never saw anyone record any spares. I left the 5-7-10 once a few years ago and a guy wanted a picture but he didn't video it. And I didn't convert it...lol

[bowl1820]

Put in cameras focused on the pin deck. Keep a rotating set of videos - maybe the last 10 or 20. Sell the short videos of particular shots (probably hard spares) to bowlers who request them - for a couple of $. Maybe as high as $5.

My 9yo recently picked up (on purpose, not just randomly) a 7-9 split. She would have loved a video of that...

As stated the return on the investment for a system that just did that wouldn't be enough to justify it. There are more advanced systems that do far more (Such as Specto, B.O.L.T.S., ) and those are not wide spread do to the cost vs return.

[MikeMed]

I agree that the vast majority of successful tough split conversions are probably not recorded. Having cameras set up to record the pin action also would most likely produce a better quality result than a smart phone from seventy five feet away.
Never the less I agree with Ryster. The cost of the cameras and the data storage plus the labor to set them all up against the rarity of something memorable being recorded and someone being willing to pay for the recording... I just don’t see there being a reasonable return on investment.

I did some back of the napkin calculations in how I would configure a system like that from scratch and came up with a cost of maybe 10K for a 36-lane alley. (Storage is dirt cheap. Cameras are a bit more. Most of the cost is powerful enough computers that can handle multiple cameras (8 per) and installation costs. Wifi not included in the cost since most centers already have it.) Let's say you sell it for 20K. Let's say it is used 10 times a day at $5 a pop. That's an ROI of a bit more than a year.

[J Anderson]

I did some back of the napkin calculations in how I would configure a system like that from scratch and came up with a cost of maybe 10K for a 36-lane alley. (Storage is dirt cheap. Cameras are a bit more. Most of the cost is powerful enough computers that can handle multiple cameras (8 per) and installation costs. Wifi not included in the cost since most centers already have it.) Let's say you sell it for 20K. Let's say it is used 10 times a day at $5 a pop. That's an ROI of a bit more than a year.

$5 a photo was your best case scenario. I would think investors would make a decision based on something in between best and worst case. $3 is a more realistic price point to base your ROI on. Okay now you’ve got 36 lanes going seven days a week. How often is someone going to want a clip of the ball going through the pin deck? You can almost forget about strikes. If I have the front nine, I know someone is probably going to film it on their phone. And I’m probably going to ask at the desk for a frame by frame print out of that games score sheet, which is free. So the only strike photos sold will be to parents of kids getting their first strikes, maybe one each week. So then how many odd spares, big splits, and washouts for example, will people want photos of? Senior bowlers are notoriously cheap so forget about anything that happens in a senior league. Regular league bowlers? I’ve made everything but the 7-10, 4-6, 4-6-7-10, 4-6-7, 4-6-10, 4-6-7-9-10, and the 4-6-7-8-10. To my mind those would be the only ones a regular league bowler might want a pic of. That leaves open bowlers who are your best market for this service/product. I have no idea how often they make anything weird but I doubt if it happens very often. In short I think ten photos per day is wildly optimistic. I would bet that the 56 lane center where I bowl would be lucky to sell ten per week at $2 a pop.

[Ryster]

You would be competing with this type of thing:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=upx7Rh0udYA

The reaction is more valuable than just seeing the ball hitting the pins.

[bowl1820]

You would be competing with this type of thing:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=upx7Rh0udYA

The reaction is more valuable than just seeing the ball hitting the pins.

Yes a system that had cameras focused back on the bowlers on the approach (Like what they do on roller-coaster rides getting pictures of the riders) would more likely generate more revenue. Plus it could probably be done with off the shelf camera systems that you could pick up pretty cheap. People would be more inclined to get photos of themselves, Relatives and friends bowling and their reactions.

[MikeMed]

Yes a system that had cameras focused back on the bowlers on the approach (Like what they do on roller-coaster rides getting pictures of the riders) would more likely generate more revenue. Plus it could probably be done with off the shelf camera systems that you could pick up pretty cheap. People would be more inclined to get photos of themselves, Relatives and friends bowling and their reactions.
The way I was thinking of doing the short clips with the camera focused on the pin deck would be to have a motion detector half way down the lane that would start the clip, with either a timed clip or (to take very low-speed balls into account) with a second motion detector right at the pin deck that would stop the clip (well, after a few more seconds).

The camera-behind-the-bowler would have to figure out when to start the clip, which would not be trivial.

[Phonetek]

With all the financial damage done to bowling centers from Covid I can tell you first hand they aren't interested in huge investments. Right now most are trying to lick their wounds and press on.

Everyone in my area has drastically lowered bowling prices to get people in the door. Right now we are currently a $2 a game and $3 shoes or $10 unlimited bowling shoes included. Our focus isn't on making money off the bowling per say, it's now the food and beer.

Since I went back in Feb the leagues were sparsely populated and we continued to make very little in comparison to pre-Covid. Now that they are over I redesigned our menu and greatly expanded it. Same with the beer selection. It was a rather pathetic mixed bag of overpriced cheap beers that was nothing special.

Now I brought in a ton of craft beers, local beers, lagers, stouts, summer sours, ales and IPA's. In addition to the Seltzer's and ciders. Our cooler is packed now with options. Between just food and beer our revenue has gone up 77% since Feb as of the end of last week's report. We aren't at our pre-Covid numbers yet but we've been packing them in enough where we had to hire more help.

As for the gimmicky stuff like cameras, I think for right now most bowling centers, they are just going to maximize on what they currently have and make the best of it. That was the consensus at the last BPAA meeting anyway.

We have some huge expenses coming up. Our rental shoes are shot, bowling pins are shot, Lanes need to be cut and side boards are deteriorated. I'm hoping there is going to be enough in the kitty to be able to get all this done by fall league season. Not to mention some other items in need of replacement we are barely keeping together with bubble gum and duct tape.

Things are tough but we'll muddle through. In the meantime we just need to keep focused on parties, whole house bookings, events and whatever else we can to keep the train moving through the doors.

[Ryster]

Our previously privately owned bowling center was recently purchased by Bowlero. We [regular customers] are waiting for the hammer to drop. We know it is staying open, however we anticipate numerous changes over the next several months. Only time will tell what the overall impact is, but I anticipate changes in all aspects of the operation (staffing, hours, prices, food/drink, league availability, etc.)

[Phonetek]

Our saving grace with being privately owned is that they also own a rather large chain of movie theaters, a hotel and a ton of real estate. We're just a tiny part of the business. As long as the rest of company stays afloat then we will too.

That said, if the bowling alley just turns into a money pit they WILL call it quits turn this place into storage. However we have been profitable for the most part and whilst all the theaters were shut down we were the singular business that was still up and running bringing in income.