Too hard to join a league... : (

[e-tank]

And like bowlerRob said...the KEY is that league players drive other players to your alley. They bring in people...new league players, new teams. They also spend money in the pro shop. How many times have I been to some weekday/midday alley for some $1.25 a game special...and the pro-shop is open with ZERO people ever even so much as looking in there?? Yet on league night...people are in and out and in and out and in... When I went to visit Mike White...once it got within an hour of league night...there were like 4 people lined up to see him! On Fridays, the pro shop has someone else on staff watching it so the pro can bowl in the league (he's the president of the league).

Sounds like the pro shop in my house. Although i never see people in there league night or not. Ive never used his drilling services but the few times ive spoken to him it sounds like he has no idea what hes doing. The guy i go to which is about 20 min from me always has customers and hes not even in a alley. Been meaning to head up to see Mike to get the tri grip done. Glad to see hes so popular lol

[Aslan]

All of this stuff is opinions and not fact which I'm sure everybody knows. I would love to hear from an actual bowling alley owner or someone who really knows the numbers and isn't guessing.

I agree, but I think that will be difficult. Companies that are "advising" bowling alleys…according to an article I read online…are feeding them statistics about demographics being younger and kids trending towards easy lane conditions and open bowling. They then tell them all their profits are going to be private parties and liquor sales from turning their alleys into semi-night clubs. If an alley owner is losing money…he'll listen.

[mjoyce]

From my experience I can see why the house that has my league would favor cosmic bowling. Cosmic bowling there is $14 all you can bowl including shoes. 2 weeks ago my fiance and I stayed after leagues to cosmic bowl with her sister and boyfriend. The house wasn't nearly full but probably about 50%. I'd say of the patrons 25% were children then some over 21 couples and friends having a good time.

The food and beverages at this bowlmore AMF house is EXPENSIVE. $11 for a pitcher of domestic, I think $16 for sam adams. If you want a bucket of 6 coronas...$30.

The league bowlers will be happy with their $11 domestic (well not happy but you know what I mean) The randoms that come in are out for a night of fun. So if they're on a date or whatever they're more inclined to buy the more expensive beer.

Leagues are good because it will bring repeat business. But from a business owner standpoint they can bank profit by charging the non regular customers a ton for cosmic bowling.

It also seems that $14 for two hours of bowling is pretty much the going rate like on a Sunday afternoon...which explains why the place is usually DEAD then. We still get the $2 practice games.

I would think that after a while charging these prices is going to dry up the client pool and centers will be less and less busy. I really like bowling in the league I'm in but honestly if I wasn't in a league I wouldn't have stayed for cosmic bowlling two weeks ago. We'd have done something else, gone to a bar, grabbed some food, whatever instead of spending that money bowling.

I feel like the $0.25 per game model makes more sense. You get the people in there for the cheap and they come back because the bowling is cheap and they had fun and this way you drive volume. The model AMF is currently running is driving profits through price, that's all well and good but eventually capitalism either forces a drive down in price due to competition in the area or the profits die and the places close.

[bowl1820]

House here does pretty good for the leagues.

Reward card and Play pass card

League bowlers Pay $15+tax a month for unlimited open bowling

Free Rewards Cash: Your card comes with cash already loaded on it! It's our way of saying thanks for joining! ( You got a $1.00 for each week you bowled in a league last season I got $34 this time.)

Cash Back: 10% cash back! For examples, you'll get $2 for every $20
Also for every $100 you put on your card, they give you a extra $15


there's also a card upgrade for $15 with slight increases in above stuff

[e-tank]

House here does pretty good for the leagues.

Reward card and Play pass card

League bowlers Pay $15+tax a month for unlimited open bowling

Free Rewards Cash: Your card comes with cash already loaded on it! It's our way of saying thanks for joining! ( You got a $1.00 for each week you bowled in a league last season I got $34 this time.)

Cash Back: 10% cash back! For examples, you'll get $2 for every $20
Also for every $100 you put on your card, they give you a extra $15


there's also a card upgrade for $15 with slight increases in above stuff

sounds like a good deal. I spend anywhere from $12-18 a week for practice. Id be there every day if it was free opening bowling haha

[Aslan]

The AMF/Bowlmor lost my business today due to their new 4PM opening time on Wednesdays.

And more than that…most days during the week when I go there…EMPTY. Last Monday there was ONE lane playing plus me. Until when? When LEAGUES showed up.

I just think it's funny that during league nights (Mon-Fri) I many times can't find ONE open lane…yet a bowling alley would prefer to tell all those die hard bowlers to take a hike…close their alleys until 4PM on weekdays…then "hope" that enough people on dates during the week or scheduling birthday parties will just randomly show up. Big mistake in my opinion. Every single alley I've seen that has lost it's leagues has died. Maybe not right away…but cosmic bowlers aren't bowling every week…and if they do…they start looking for leagues.