[rustyp]

I attended the Sun Bowl seniors bowling tournament here in The Villages yesterday. The bowling was fantastic. These guys bowl as good as they did when they were on the regular tour. Great to see all the old legends. When they announced Walter Ray Williams’ winning check of $7500 I could not believe it. I almost felt said for these guys. I assume they must attend these events as a social thing, you know like a retirees club. I think the whole payout was around $50K to the top 32 bowlers. The entrance field I believe was 160. That would come out to $312 per bowler. By the time they fill up the old motor home, pay the entrance fee, and all the other expenses 150 of them (?) probably lost money. There was a full house there for the final matches. I paid $10 for admittance for the day (fair). However with so many spectators I could not see the final matches. We are all standing in the bowling alley where every lane has a TV monitor above it yet the house did not have the technology to broadcast the event on the screens. Worse yet they could not broadcast the score but only on the screens of the two lanes the bowlers were on. I suggest the PBA review their business model. This sport from a professional standpoint looks like it’s dying in my opinion. From an amateur standpoint I know it is very popular here in The Villages. So I pick up the newspaper this morning and see that the Legends Tour for the LPGA is here in The Villages this weekend. A field of 41 golfers with a purse of $225K. That would be an average of $5487 per golfer. The attendance fee for us residents is $10 (from Walgreens) for the entire weekend. Is this not a great place to live? I get to go to two professional tournaments in one week (in my golf cart as a bonus) for $20. And if I want I could throw in polo for a few bucks more.

[blueash]

Really? There is pro Bowling? Who knew. Joseph Joseph RIP

[Dr Winston O Boogie jr]

I think that you're answering your own question. You and a thousand or so other people paid $10 a head to see these guys bowl. That's $10,000. The rest of the purse has to come from a sponsor. How many companies are willing to put up $50,000 to get their message in front of 1,000 people?
As to your statement that these guys bowl as well as they did when they were on the regular tour, I sincerely doubt that. If they did, they would be entering regular tour events and bowling for the big bucks.
Golf attracts many more spectators and television contracts than bowling does. That is why the purses are higher.
Even in golf, the purses for the Senior Tour, LPGA Tour, European Tour or Web.com Tour are lower than the PGA Tour simply because they attract fewer spectators and/or televisions viewers.
You have to remember that all professional and some college sports are just big business. The reason that exist is to sell products. The reason that baseball, football and golf are on television is that companies are willing to pay a lot of money to advertise during these games. That's where the money comes from. There is simply not enough interest in watching bowling to entice sponsors to spend their money.
Don't forget, if a sponsor puts up $2 million to sponsor a golf tournament they are expecting that it will result in more than $2 million in profits. Why else would they do it?

[mfp509]

I agree with Rustyp - I also wondered why the overhead screens with the score couldn't have been on - only the two where the bowlers were bowling. I ended up standing in that vicinity - couldn't see the bowlers but could see the score. I also overheard one of the Pro's say there isn't any money in bowling anymore. I turned to see who said it and I recognized him.
It was still a great event - I have bowled in the Pro-Am for 4 years now and will definitely do it again next year.

[paulandjean]

Bowling, yes its a slow death.