Maine Man

This has been a topic I have wanted to blog about for some time now, but needed info from my fellow bowlers to help make a few valid points. The standard length league season goes from 33 to 35 weeks in length. Typically the season fires up around Labor Day, and ends sometime near the end of April or beginning to middle of May. Every year around February or March I hear the typical groans from my fellow bowlers about the long “grind” of the season, and how they can’t wait for summer to get here, and the league bowling to be done. Why can’t we do something about it? There are a few different factors in play for and against a shortened league season, and I will try and cover those while expressing my view on the subject, which is that I feel shortening the league season to 30 weeks would be a good solution for everyone.

POLL RESULTS:

I did an impromptu poll of 50 league bowlers on this very subject and here are the results:

40 said “yes, the league season is too long, and I would like to see it shorter”.

9 said “the league season is perfect, leave it where it is”.

1 said “the league season is too short, I would like to see it longer”.

*I did a follow up poll of the 40 people who said they would like a shorter league season, and here is the results of that poll:

16 voted for a schedule between 30 – 33 weeks.

22 voted for a schedule between 27 – 30 weeks.

2 voted for a schedule between 24 – 27 weeks.

The raw data from this poll helps to explain my exact position on the subject, which is that the league season is too long to keep a bowler’s interest for 33 – 35 weeks a year. I know the sample size of the poll was only 50 bowlers, but of those 50, 80% said they favor a shorter season, while only 20% favor the current length or a longer schedule. In the world we live in now, with so many options for people to do outside of bowling (especially when spring time rolls around), we need to find a way to keep the same bowlers coming back year after year, and hopefully bring in some new bowlers to help sustain the sport.

I feel that a season shortened to 30 weeks will help. Is it the only answer to the declining USBC membership numbers? Of course not, but I feel it will make a vast majority of league bowlers happier, without putting a huge dent in proprietors pockets. One of the biggest reasons for leagues not shortening their schedule is the offer the leagues get from the bowling center. Most centers off a “deal” on lineage if the leagues agree to a longer schedule. Now the “deal” is usually in the ..20 - .30 cent per game area, which when broken down over the course of 35 weeks, saves the league a decent amount of money. I feel that if the bowling centers realized that the league numbers may actually increase, or at the very least not decrease, by going to a shorter season, they may be more inclined to give the cheaper rate for a 30 week season. The only way this can change is to get ALL of the leagues on board with their proposals to the bowling center, and force their hand (so to speak) when it comes to the league schedule.

Also, there can be something done by the league bowlers as well as the proprietors, which would require everyone on the league to commit to increasing their league dues to cover the higher lineage rate. I can understand the bowling centers wanting a longer commitment from leagues, it’s guaranteed money for the house for 33-35 weeks out of the year. But, bowlers also have to be proactive, and realize that the house still needs to make money for them to have a place to bowl, and increasing league dues may be required to bowl a shorter season.

For example, if the house gives the league a .25 higher rate if they want to go to 30 weeks, most bowlers would balk and say they’re getting ripped off. But, if the league votes to increase dues by $1 a week, the league can cover the lineage increase and recoup .65 cents worth of prize fund money per bowler, per week, that would have been lost to a shorter season. This is a win-win situation for the league and the bowling center. The proprietor is able to make a little more money off the league in a shorter season, and the bowlers are happy by going to a shorter schedule.

In the end, the houses and league bowlers both need to work together to ensure that future generations of bowlers can enjoy the sport of bowling for decades to come. I feel that a shortened league season, coupled with a small increase in lineage dues, can be a viable solution to help stop the hemorrhaging of bowlers leaving leagues season after season. I love the sport, and want to see it thrive and grow in the coming years. If we all pitch in together, we can make it happen. Thank you.

-James Goulding III