Bob Glass, a dominant player during a 10-year career on the PBA50 Tour; former Microsoft executive Chris Peters, who played a key role as a new owner in reviving the Professional Bowlers Association, and Barb Wilt, the longest-tenured employee in PBA history, have been elected to the PBA Hall of Fame. There were no candidates elected in the PBA Performance category. Induction ceremonies will be held on Tuesday, Feb. 10, at the Marriott Indianapolis North in conjunction with the 50th anniversary Barbasol PBA Tournament of Champions.
Rolltech, the official Live Scoring Partner of the 2014 GEICO PBA World Series of Bowling, will give PBA's Xtra Frame subscribers a chance to watch the WSOB VI in exceptional detail when the multi-event series gets underway Friday in Las Vegas, PBA Vice President of Media Dave Schroeder announced Wednesday. Under the new agreement, Rolltech will provide exclusive live frame-by-frame scoring to Xtra Frame subscribers during qualifying rounds of all four animal pattern championship events.
PBA legend Marshall Holman (pictured) will return to the broadcast booth when he joins the Xtra Frame coverage team for the GEICO PBA World Series of Bowling VI as color commentator, PBA Vice President of Media Dave Schroeder announced today. The PBA Hall of Famer and 22-time PBA Tour titlist will join Xtra Frame and ESPN play-by-play announcer Mike Jakubowski in the broadcast booth for live coverage Oct. 25-28 at the South Point Bowling Center in Las Vegas.
The International Bowling Museum and Hall of Fame will be presenting sponsor of the PBA Challenge telecast on ESPN on Sunday, Jan. 18, PBA Commissioner Tom Clark has announced. The presenting sponsorship was awarded by the PBA to create awareness for the IBMHOF, which is located in Arlington, Texas.
The Professional Bowlers Association has announced the launch of the PBA Network, a multi-platform media umbrella built for fans and highlighted by televised and digital event coverage of the best players in the world competing for the most coveted titles in the sport. Through the PBA Network, fans will have unprecedented access to the PBA including wall-to-wall coverage of an expanded schedule of live events, player interaction, mobile gaming, original programming, archived events and immediate news updates anytime.
Veteran PBA50 Tour player Chris Keane (pictured) of Cape Coral, Florida has been selected as the Dick Weber Sportsmanship Award winner for the 2014 PBA50 Tour season in voting by his fellow competitors. Keane, 56, has been competing on the PBA50 Tour for four seasons. He has a career-high finish of 12th which came in the 2012 PBA50 Northern California Classic and had three top-20 finishes in 2014, including a best of 14th which also came in the Northern California Classic.
An expanded schedule of tournament activity is on tap for the Professional Bowlers Association for calendar year 2015, including three major championships, six Xtra Frame tournaments, three doubles events and nine PBA International-World Bowling Tour tournaments among 29 PBA Tour title events. The comprehensive schedule of PBA events will include 22 PBA television programs on ESPN and the CBS Sports Network, plus live online coverage of more than 40 events by PBA's Xtra Frame online broadcast crew, PBA Commissioner Tom Clark announced today.
PBA Bowling Challenge Mobile Game has been named presenting sponsor of the 2014 PBA Cheetah Championship, PBA Commissioner Tom Clark announced today. The PBA Cheetah Championship will be the first of four animal pattern championships conducted during PBA World Series of Bowling VI at South Point Bowling Center in Las Vegas. The four-player stepladder finals will be conducted on Saturday, Nov. 1, for telecast on ESPN on Sunday, Dec. 14, at 1 p.m. ET.
The Professional Bowlers Association has entered into an affiliate agreement with DraftKings.com that has special appeal to PBA fans who enjoy playing online fantasy sports games. The agreement invites PBA fans to sign up with DraftKings through a link on pba.com and through PBA's Facebook and Twitter pages to compete for cash prizes offered by DraftKings and special prizes offered by the PBA in a wide variety of fantasy sports games.
The Professional Bowlers Association's 34th consecutive season of coverage on ESPN begins on Sunday, Dec. 14, and includes 16 weeks of national television coverage for the world's best bowlers, including live coverage of three major championships: the 50th anniversary Barbasol PBA Tournament of Champions, PBA World Championship and USBC Masters. The new season on ESPN begins on Sunday, Dec. 14 at 1 p.m. ET with the finals of the PBA Cheetah Championship.
In the 56-year history of the PBA, there is no one who has personally experienced as much of the history and evolution of the sport's professional organization than Barb Wilt, who will bring her 44-year career with PBA to an end when she retires on Aug. 31. Wilt began her career with PBA in a clerical position in July 1970 when PBA's offices were located in Akron, Ohio, and there were just five people working in the office. Over the next 44 years, she created a legacy of service to the organization and its members.
It didn't take long for PBA Hall of Famer Norm Duke (pictured) to make an impact on the PBA50 Tour. In his rookie season on the tour for players ages 50 and older, the 37-time PBA Tour champion from Clermont, Florida, became only the second player to earn PBA50 Player of the Year and Rookie of the Year in the same season. Despite the great season Duke had, it was two other PBA greats – Walter Ray Williams Jr. and Pete Weber – who led the PBA50 Tour statistical races over the course of the 11-tournament campaign.
Woodland Bowl, the host for some of the most memorable championships in Professional Bowlers Association history, will once again step into the spotlight early in 2015 when the 50th anniversary PBA Tournament of Champions returns to the city where it was born. The newly-renovated Woodland Bowl will host the milestone Barbasol PBA Tournament of Champions Monday, Feb. 11 through Sunday, Feb. 15, when ESPN will televise the finals live at 1 p.m. ET.