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.