[cquick]

We were talking with friends who wanted to take some relatives bowling. They went to the bowling alley and were very surprised that there are only 2 bowling alleys. I think there's plenty of room ( and bowlers ) for another one in the Brownwood area.

Ideas?

[fred53]

I gather you aren't here in the summer. If you were you'd know that the year round population doesn't begin to fill the two bowling alley's we now have. Perhaps you could suggest a way they could survive the 5/6mos. when the snowbirds have flown the coop.

[bagboy]

It seems the two bowling centers have slowed a bit with respect to maximizing their capacity. Six to eight years ago, it was rather difficult to get into a league, especially if you had a full team of four. Now the centers find the need to advertise for bowlers in the summer and fall leagues. The two centers are owned by the same family. At one time they owned a piece of property on or near 44 (may still do) suitable for a bowling center, but not "in" The Villages therefor not golf cart accessable. The owners are long time bowling proprietors, if a southern center was viable, most likely they would have started by now. Not to say they won't in the future though.
One last note, another property owner on 44 near the old Butterbean/O'Shea location had announced a "bowling center coming soon" near Brownwood. That plan was nixed and they are now building small retail/commercial buildings on that site. All that said, we might not be quite ready for a third center. And there is Leesburg Lanes east of The Villages on 44.

[raynan]

Too bad they wouldn't bring in Candlepin Bowling. You throw 3 small balls per square. Much easier on arthritic hands and less weight to lift. Would be a gold mine here IMO.
Very popular in New England.

[outlaw]

OP, you may be on to something. A TV sales representative told me about a year ago that the number one activity in TV was...bowling! Golf was in the number four spot, iirc.

[golfing eagles]

I'm not so sure another bowling alley in Brownwood wouldn't do well.
We know Villagers love their golf carts, so golf cart accessible lanes would probably pull all the bowlers south of 466A, as well as those just north of 466A. For many who would like to bowl, especially in a league, hiking up to SS every week can be a haul, so I'm sure there are those who just pass on joining. It's the same reason I've never played NL,OB,TD and GC---not worth almost an hour in a golf cart when there are 7 courses between 3 and 25 min away. It would also pull residents of Wildwood, mitigating the seasonal effect

[billybye]

Most Bowling centers around the country are closing due to a decline in bowling. I know it used to be a bowling center needed two evening leagues to break even and them profit came from weekend open bowling. I know we have more daytime leagues than elsewhere, but I doubt if the two centers are making any money at all. Probably just getting by and owners are into bowling themselves, so keeps them busy.

[Bogie Shooter]

Originally Posted by bagboy

It seems the two bowling centers have slowed a bit with respect to maximizing their capacity. Six to eight years ago, it was rather difficult to get into a league, especially if you had a full team of four. Now the centers find the need to advertise for bowlers in the summer and fall leagues. The two centers are owned by the same family. At one time they owned a piece of property on or near 44 (may still do) suitable for a bowling center, but not "in" The Villages therefor not golf cart accessable. The owners are long time bowling proprietors, if a southern center was viable, most likely they would have started by now. Not to say they won't in the future though.
One last note, another property owner on 44 near the old Butterbean/O'Shea location had announced a "bowling center coming soon" near Brownwood. That plan was nixed and they are now building small retail/commercial buildings on that site. All that said, we might not be quite ready for a third center. And there is Leesburg Lanes east of The Villages on 44.

I agree.

[jallseg]

Originally Posted by outlaw

OP, you may be on to something. A TV sales representative told me about a year ago that the number one activity in TV was...bowling! Golf was in the number four spot, iirc.

Yeah, we were told the same thing by our sales rep. New alley coming.
Oh wait ..That was in 1999.

[golfing eagles]

Originally Posted by jallseg

Yeah, we were told the same thing by our sales rep. New alley coming.
Oh wait ..That was in 1999.

Was told the same thing in 2013. At least they are consistent

[tomwed]

I've also heard that bowling was the number one activity a couple of times. I don't get it either. One would think golf or even pickleball. Anybody have any guesses?
It was mm rep 3 years ago? He also said that the designers will start at 500k right about now.

[golfing eagles]

Originally Posted by tomwed

I've also heard that bowling was the number one activity a couple of times. I don't get it either. One would think golf or even pickleball. Anybody have any guesses?
It was mm rep 3 years ago? He also said that the designers will start at 500k right about now.

I would guess it would be hard for 2 bowling alleys to rack up the equivalent of over 3 million rounds of golf/year. Would also be hard to compete with 600+ softball teams and 100+ pickleball courts as well. Might even be hard to compete with seat saving, although that can be a full contact sport

[bagboy]

Originally Posted by tomwed

I've also heard that bowling was the number one activity a couple of times. I don't get it either. One would think golf or even pickleball. Anybody have any guesses?
It was mm rep 3 years ago? He also said that the designers will start at 500k right about now.

We were told bowling was number one also, and I am clueless as to why that it thought to be the case. I'll explain in another post.

[golfing eagles]

A little further analysis:

If all 64 lanes were being used by 4 bowlers, 12 hours/day, 7 days a week, that would be a capacity of 64x4x12x7x52 = 1,118,208 person hours of bowling, max.
If 3 million rounds of golf were divided 2.5 million exec at 1 1/2 hours and 500,000 champ at 4 1/2 hours, that would be 6 million person-hours of golf, so I just can't see it. Even if we counted a line of bowling as equal to a round of golf, say at 45 min for 4 bowlers to complete a game, then that's 1,490,944 games of bowling vs. 3 million rounds of golf. Either way, I have to doubt that bowling is the #1 sport in TV

[tomwed]

Originally Posted by golfing eagles

A little further analysis:

If all 64 lanes were being used by 4 bowlers, 12 hours/day, 7 days a week, that would be a capacity of 64x4x12x7x52 = 1,118,208 person hours of bowling, max.
If 3 million rounds of golf were divided 2.5 million exec at 1 1/2 hours and 500,000 champ at 4 1/2 hours, that would be 6 million person-hours of golf, so I just can't see it. Even if we counted a line of bowling as equal to a round of golf, say at 45 min for 4 bowlers to complete a game, then that's 1,490,944 games of bowling vs. 3 million rounds of golf. Either way, I have to doubt that bowling is the #1 sport in TV

What do you take for a math headache? AddVil?