2015 List of Things to Change in the PBA.

[Aslan]

I figured I'd start this and people could add things as they notice stuff.

To start things off…here's my list so far:

1) Get rid of "The League"…it's stupid and nobody cares. I think bowlers would be more interested in seeing each bowling ball company have a team of their players…maybe have players drawn randomly to make up the 4-person team for companies that sponsor way more than 4 players. I think bowlers tend towards brand loyalty and would root for their brand to win…more so than to root for some imaginary team from a city kinda close to them. Or have teams based on where the players are born. A California, a Michigan, a New York…where all the players have to have been born there or currently live there? But, "The Draft" was stupid…nobody watched it…and it had the production value of the AVI Challenge.

2) While I personally like the blue oil…I think most people/viewers find it distracting.

3) The 3-person semi-final was a nice "try"…but all it has done is made the telecast short and it's even more confusing to the viewer.

4) Stop taking commercial breaks while the bowlers are bowling. Stop "pre-taping" shows. Either bowling is viable on TV or not. If you disrespect it…then people won't bother watching…and you'll be back to square 1. If you wouldn't cut away from an NBA game to run a story or commercial without stopping action on the court…don't do it to bowling.

5) I think it's great to have a kid bowl against a PBA player…it's a nice touch and involves the fan base. But here's an idea…maybe LET THEM PICK who they bowl against!!! Two tournaments in a row where they ask the kid who they want to bowl against and the kid tells them…and they say, "Oh…well…ughhhh…actually, you're bowling against X!!!" Then why the hell did you ask him who he WANTED to bowl against if you were going to force him to bowl against someone else? Today a Belmo fane, wearing a Belmo jersey (and no it wasn't me)…got asked who he wanted to bowl against (because apparently it was unclear by his apparel) and after he said Belmo…he got Sean Rash! So then he wins the bowl off (Sean probably threw the match)…he gets Sean Rash's ball and jersey….which as a Belmo fan…I'm sure he's going to Ebay or light on fire.

I mean…I'm no marketing guy…but why ask the kids if you're gonna just make them bowl against someone else? Thats cruel. Thats like going to Baskin Robbins and they ask you what flavor you'd like and you say vanilla and they say, "Well, then here's your chunky monkey. Enjoy!"

[Amyers]

1. I agree the league is darn near unwatchable
2. I like the blue oil and it's about the only thing that shows casual fans the difference between what the pros are bowling on and what's at thier local center now if we could bring the blue oil into our centers maybe people would really understand
3. As long as it's on I dont care
4. My biggest issue I really spend too much time online not to hear who won before hand do it live or don't bother
5. Your correct either don't ask or ask ahead so that bowler can be there

[circlecity]

yeah the league has to go. I do like your idea of brands vs brands!

I thought the semi match with 3 bowlers was great. It was fast paced and am not sure how it was confusing???

[got_a_300]

1. I also agree that the league bowling needs to go or make
it brand against brand.

2. I personally like the blue oil it lets me see how they are
breaking down the oil pattern

3. I can see their point in wanting to make it an hour long
program like most TV shows are just so normal viewers don't
get bored watching. I personally would like to see it go back to
5th place vs 4th place and then 4th vs 3rd and so on.

4. I agree 100% with everything stop all the bowling during breaks

5. I agree 100% let the person pick out who they want to bowl against
ahead of time and make sure the Pro is going to be there to bowl them
instead of just saying here you have to bowl against this guy/gal.

[stumblintowards100]

1) While I personally enjoyed the league, I think because it seemed to put the "pro's" on a level that an average league bowler could relate. However, I do like the concept mentioned of pitting manufacturers against each other.
2) I too, like the blue oil
3) While I understand the 1-hour format, it's cheaper than a longer program, and it probably suits the average attention span of the general public, I would watch it either way, but I also think live finals is the way to go. Too many outlets that give the results away before the telecast.
4) Agree totally
5) Again, agree totally!

[RobLV1]

Frankly, at first I thought the whole PBA League concept was rather stupid, but lately I've been going back and rewatching the last round and found them to be very informative about how bowlers at that level make adjustments based on what other players are doing, as well as watching the way they communicate with each other between shots. I think league bowlers can learn a whole lot from watching the league competition.

[Hampe]

Lol...I don't get the hate for the league. I don't have much time available to watch PBA stuff, and the league has been the only PBA event I've watched the last few years. I do agree that they could make some changes to the format or the teams. I thought the salary/free agency system they had the first year or two was way more interesting than the draft they had last year. I don't know about you guys but I'd guess that about 60-80% of all the competitive bowling I do is leagues (for most casual bowlers it's probably closer to 90-100%), and it's what I can relate to the most. I enjoy watching the pros interact with each other, and seeing the different strategies they use. And like Rob said, last year had some pretty interesting insights into what adjustments they're making. They can definitely improve it, but getting rid of it altogether would be disappointing.

[J Anderson]

I thought that the League had two good things about it. One was that you got to see more bowlers. The other was the team setting allowed you to see them in different situation than a stepladder finals.

What I thought needed to change was the weighting of the events. The PBA evidently was so afraid that a team would lock up the competition before the final event that they basically made all the earlier event meaningless.

[Aslan]

I'm not saying drop The League...I'm saying make it bigger and make each team sponsored by the ball manufacturers. I'd even go so far as saying that current non-PBA sanctioned ball manufacturers should take part at a greatly reduced rate. They'd still need to pay the full amount to use their equipment on the PBA Tour...but lets make it a much smaller fee and get some of these smaller companies like Pyramid, Lord Field, Lane #1, and Seismic as part of the show. You could have:

- Brunswick
- RotoGrip
- DV8
- Ebonite
- Track
- Hammer
- Columbia
- Radical
- Motiv
- Storm
- Seismic
- Lord Field
- Lane #1
- Pyramid
- 900Global
- more???

Just make it so the balls have to be USBC certified...make it a small, reasonable fee so that any guy in a garage with some resin can't create his own team...and let the manufacturers fill their teams with their sponsored bowlers/ball reps. It still will have that league flavor...it will still have all the things people like about the league currently...but it will also have the added prestige that ball companies that win can use that as a marketing tool and advertising. Imagine if Lord Field defeated DV8 for the League title. Imagine the increase in sales Lord Field would see and the increase in pro shops wanting to carry Lord Field products if their bowlers actually took first place. Maybe add as a side benefit to a team winning that the manufacturer doesn't have to pay the PBA Tour fees the following year? Wouldn't that really, really motivate a company to participate in the league and want to win it?

I just think under the current format...why in the world do I want to root for the Hoeboeken Slingeldorfs or the Houston Putz Magnets?? You got guys randomly selected to be part of some team, owned by some idiot, representing some city (where I doubt more than 2% of the city knows their team exists). Why do I care which team wins? THAT is the important question the PBA needs to answer if they want to truly turn things around. "Why do I care?" Because IF I care....I'll watch. So, MAKE ME care. Sure are lots of people passionate about DV8 or Motiv or Storm or RotoGrip....lots of bowlers that are very brand loyal....USE THAT.

I swear...I have NO marketing background...yet I could make the PBA popular in < 3 years by just making changes that make sense. Yet the PBA...half the time it feels like they have 5 monkees in a room with beach balls and are trying to come up with ideas that way. But see...when the PBA is owned by the same people that were behind Microsoft...giving people what they WANT is a far distant 2nd to just giving people crap and painting it colors and then wondering why Apple kicks the **** out of you in marketing wars.

[RobLV1]

If memory serves, a few years ago during one of the summer events that were held outdoors, teams were comprised of different ball companies' staffers.