There is a threat to the bowling landscape in Los Angeles

[seblake834]

Bowling has been quite the staple in Los Angeles for several decades. There's always been great centers, great lanes, the famous Phil Yoakum's Bowling Supply pro shop owned and operated by Phil Yoakum, and leagues everywhere imaginable in the city. Tournaments and leagues have always had a great turnout in the city, as well as PBA events in our city, as many PBA events have been held at centers throughout all of Los Angeles.

Now there's a threat to the competition and league oriented environment of bowling in Los Angeles. With remodels of the bowling alleys being done fairly recently in my area, which is the westside of Los Angeles, more specifically close to LAX, there is a blatant disappearance of pro shops, leagues, and the overall landscape of the places have changed completely. In the place of AMF El Dorado Lanes came Bowlero Los Angeles. In the place of AMF Mar Vista Lanes came Bowlero Mar Vista. And in the place of AMF Bay Shore Lanes came Bowlmor Santa Monica. Now don’t get me wrong, the new bowling alleys all look really nice and are definitely up to date, but the one thing that is missing is the inclusion of leagues. How are people supposed to combat this? Not everyone is willing to travel out to Downtown, Torrance, and Gardena just to take part in a league. And now, there are signs pointing in the direction that these bowling center remodels are not through yet. Even more bowling centers could be changing and pro shops leagues could be wiped out completely in this city.

What action should be taken by the bowlers if any can be?

[LOUVIT]

So they are just interested in open bowling? Doesn't make sense to me.

[seblake834]

So they are just interested in open bowling? Doesn't make sense to me.

It doesn't make any sense to me either. Yes, they make tons of profit off of open bowling, but we league bowlers and tournament bowlers have made these centers tons of money over the years and for them to suddenly lose interest in it is baffling to me.

[ep1977]

They re-did an alley near me a year ago and changed into a bowlmor which has no leagues and is all about glow bowling. Around here there are so many houses within 15 minutes that this one didn't matter but if more make the switch I'd be concerned.

[LOUVIT]

I can't imagine a full house on a Monday night where a 8 or 9pm league would be. I would think the leagues fill up these lanes on nights like that

[Aslan]

When Bowlmor bought AMF and then Brunswick centers, there was a lot of fear that Bowlmor would try to turn every center into a "Lucky Strike/Gourmet/Cosmopolitan" style of center. Some changes early on drew negative attention. They changed hours, the got rid of staff that had been there a long time and had the higher salaries and benefits, they ditched many of their less profitable centers, changed menus to make them more expensive, did a lot of re-painting/re-modeling, got rid of alot of the pro shops, and yes...they believe in a business model that does not support much league play.

Bowlmor believes that bowling alleys are simply bars with an extra bit of competitive excitement. Kinda like a western themed bar with a mechanical bull or a Dave & Busters. Bowlmor doesn't really value the sport of bowling and view it not as a "sport" but as an "activity"...like darts or billiards or gambling.

Most of the centers kept leagues and continued to try and get the center managers to keep leagues going. Leagues simply make money. Every center that has tried to ditch leagues completely has had either niche success OR has completely failed and went under. Bowlmor thinks they have the equation to make bowling more profitable...but they also want to hedge their bets and keep leagues in places they aren't quite confident in.

California and other "high rent" areas are really under pressure because the land the bowling centers are on is so valuable. Yorba Linda Bowl was gone in 2012 because a developer wanted to buy the land and use it for a Whole Foods store...but that project stalled out...so now it's just a partially built building. Tustin Lanes closed last year because the land was worth far more than a bowling alley could ever make...even a profitable one like Tustin Lanes...once the owner passes away, it's hard to convince the family to make less money running a bowling alley than a fat payday for selling.

In my opinion, Bowlmor is incorrect in many of their assumptions regarding their business model. Their data is flawed and based on some very niche markets. The bottom line is that leagues for over 50 years have been the foundation of bowling centers. And for the few open bowlers that get turned away on a weeknight...it's a steady payday and league bowlers that bowl there...also bowl there during open bowling times.

The best illustration of this is pro shops. Go to the pro shop during a non-league time....it's a deserted ghost town and you wonder how they can afford to even stay open. Go there during a league...and there are 6-9 people in line...people buying balls, at the start of the season it seems like they are selling 4-6 pairs of shoes a day...bags...supplies...etc... Leagues buy alcohol...consistently. They provide lineage, even when league members can't make it to bowl. They are much less abusive to equipment than casual bowlers. And league play translates to every single area of the country. Bowlmor's new model...only works in population centers or college towns. Bowlmor can't get enough foot traffic in some random podunk town in the bible belt. They need Chicago, or LA, or Anaheim, or D.C., or Boston, or Manhattan. They need bored young adults with a LOT of money.

[jimgilmore]

You are very right about all off that. But the fact that the land in many locations is worth far more than what they make a year has been a problem for much longer than this recent group of actions. I left to come to Ca. And it was shortly after that that the bowling alley that was on Long Island which held PBA events closed and I believe it sold for $20 mil. Though the business only made around $150,000 a year.

[JasonNJ]

Bowlmor is definitely going after the recreational bowler and does not care about leagues. I just heard Brunswick Zone Carolier in NJ is going to be remodeled. They have 84 lanes but I think about 20-30 of the lanes were an addition so they are actually on a slightly lower level. I heard they are only going to have leagues on that lower lever and they are remodeling the top level to be the trendy night club bowling alley. This is a real shame because Carolier has hosted a bunch of US Opens and they hosted the women's US Open last year.

[1VegasBowler]

While all of this is disturbing news, one has to wonder why this is happening. No matter where you go it seems like bowling is down in numbers. While there maybe a couple of areas that could be holding pretty well, that seems more like the exception than the rule.

Back in the days of the 60's-80's, bowling was one of the big things to do. One or both of our parents bowled during the week, and we watched bowling on Sundays.

While technology has taken over bowling with all of the different oil patterns, bowling balls and scoring, this same technology has take over our lives. From TV's to cell phones and anything else out here, there's no room for interacting with people on a personal level anymore.

This is the technology that has taken over the youth of this country in a way that shuts them out from reality. Whether it's smartphones or video games, very few kids these days don't do much of anything productive.

It is also feeding the entitlement mentality. Mommy & Daddy are paying for everything they want until they become adults, and when that well runs dry they look for other things they don't have to pay for, and this certainly includes bowling.

While there are a good number of kids who are darn good bowlers out there, they realize that when college is over they have to find a job and actually work for a living. Bowling isn't the answer for the great majority of these kids because the money isn't there like it once was. and trying to make a living on the PBA Tour is problematic at best.

The PBA doesn't help this cause because their sponsors are few and far between. The more money the sponsors have to shell out, the more money it is going to cost us to buy their products. Bowling balls that go for $200-$300 a clip is a result of this.

And while Pete Weber is a great bowler, he's not going to be around forever. They have to start looking at something else to market the game.

The USBC doesn't help in any way either. They have this thing that says "A Future Of The Sport". While the future needs to be looked at, the present needs attention now, or there will not be a future.

The bowling centers aren't much of a help either. Instead of improving their own equipment and conditions, they would rather invest in new carpeting, upgrading their arcade areas and even removing lockers. Their priorities go in the wrong direction and they wonder why people aren't bowling.

What is the answer to any of this? I wish I knew it, but I don't. But we have to get started on this PDQ or bowling is going to slip farther into the toilet than it already is.

The USBC & The PBA need to work together by forming a committee to see what can be done. BUT, the committee can't just be a room full of suits and pros. They need to have league bowlers be a part of this, and each state needs a couple of representatives.

The only way to get this kind of ball rolling is to get more bowlers involved at USBC meetings to get this started.

Complaining that our local associations do nothing is a byproduct of only letting the board members having their say with no and/or little input from the membership they are representing, and the power of the vote belongs to those who attend.

While we all certainly have our opinions, just placing them here in an internet forum isn't going to be loud enough for anybody to hear it. Kinda like trying to talk with somebody at a professional sports venue when your home team just won a world championship.

[fordman1]

First this should have been this is a threat to bowling everywhere.
This is one of the best topics one this or any web site that I visit.
Every bowler should start looking around and finding a place or two to bowl that is like Bowlmor.
Centers should be between 20 to 42 Lanes. Maybe have a sports bar.
They could have cosmic bowling on Friday and Saturday night after 11 P.M.
Make league bowling their main business. Cater to the league bowlers.
Make sure the lanes are oiled and the approaches are cleaned before each league.
WHEN THE LEAGUES DIE SO DOES EVERY OTHER PART OF BOWLING WE ARE ALL USED TO.