Kind of following on from the "What do people want to see" thread by Lovey, I just wanted to give my opinion of how I see bowling in Australia.
Right now, most people do not even consider bowling a sport, except the glorified PBA Tour (one person I asked claimed that "it's a professional sport in America" while mentioning that here it's more of a hobby). With this point-of-view being shared by most, if not all of the people (non-bowlers, of course) around me, surely this opinion is very widespread.
The biggest problem with bowling in my eyes is the gimmicks built off social bowling, e.g. "family fun centres", arcade games, even laser tag centres being attached to alleys. How can people take bowling seriously when it's essentially taking a back seat to these other attraction. I've never seen a football stadium with laser tag and arcade games.
There are no "visible" competitions or tournaments in Australia. Personally, I've never seen any advertised at any centre, nor have I ever seen one take place. Most people believe it's not a sport if you can't see it or there's no competitions. If a poker league or tournament is advertised more at a pub than bowling competitions and tournaments are advertised at PURPOSE BUILT bowling alleys, what is that saying about bowling?
So what is the solution? I believe that:
- We need to establish a tour similar to the PBA tour, where we have maybe 56 exempt bowlers that participate in every event on the tour, with a smaller open tournament before each event deciding the top 8 who then compete with the exempt bowlers. If any exempt bowlers can't get to an event for any reason, the qualifying field expands to make each event start with a round of 64. (Forgive me if this is too large a field, the same could be done with 24 exempt and the top 8 from a qualifier going to a round of 32.)
- On said tour, there should be an event in each state, 3 other established events which could be participated in their original format but with tour points available, and the Australian Open. The established events and Open could be contested similarly to the PBA's majors, with different oil patterns.
- The tour would have the same oil pattern for the state events, which would make scoring consistent. This pattern would be very challenging (I don't know much about patterns so I can't be specific) and make for interesting play.
- Outside the tour, we should be showcasing state on state tournaments as well, state-of-origin concepts work. Also, some of the international events involving Australian national teams should at least be mentioned.
- At these events, once we get down to the semi-final rounds, where you can spread games across the entire centre, a showcase lane format can be used where only one game is on at a time, allowing emotion and excitement to build over one match, without disturbing any other games.
- We need to get some coverage on commercial TV. David Tapp Productions currently produce the NSW Cup rugby league and some speedway shows for oneHD and would be a great step to getting some exposure to a greater audience. No offence to the TBS but personally I've never seen it on air and even though I've seen it advertised at some centres, if I haven't seen it (and I love watching bowling on TV), then most people who don't watch TVS or follow bowling will probably not know about it. I can't remember the name of the man who set up TBS but I remember the story and in no way am I trying to have a go at you or belittle your efforts. I appreciate the effort you're making to get the sport exposure, and as I am heading into a similar field once I leave school, I have nothing but respect for you.
- We need to get Belmo involved in promoting the sport down here. We have one of the greatest bowlers in the world and most people have never heard of him because there is barely any exposure or mention of him outside the bowling circles. Ask anyone who Greg Norman, Kostya Tszyu or even Joe Hachem is and they'll probably give you a correct answer.
The main thing is, bowling won't be seen as a sport here unless we get a spot on commercial TV, showcasing some of our best, bringing in money from advertising and doing something similar to what happened to poker a couple of years ago, showcasing the serious and professional side by pitting our best against the world's best.
Right now, most people do not even consider bowling a sport, except the glorified PBA Tour (one person I asked claimed that "it's a professional sport in America" while mentioning that here it's more of a hobby). With this point-of-view being shared by most, if not all of the people (non-bowlers, of course) around me, surely this opinion is very widespread.
The biggest problem with bowling in my eyes is the gimmicks built off social bowling, e.g. "family fun centres", arcade games, even laser tag centres being attached to alleys. How can people take bowling seriously when it's essentially taking a back seat to these other attraction. I've never seen a football stadium with laser tag and arcade games.
There are no "visible" competitions or tournaments in Australia. Personally, I've never seen any advertised at any centre, nor have I ever seen one take place. Most people believe it's not a sport if you can't see it or there's no competitions. If a poker league or tournament is advertised more at a pub than bowling competitions and tournaments are advertised at PURPOSE BUILT bowling alleys, what is that saying about bowling?
So what is the solution? I believe that:
- We need to establish a tour similar to the PBA tour, where we have maybe 56 exempt bowlers that participate in every event on the tour, with a smaller open tournament before each event deciding the top 8 who then compete with the exempt bowlers. If any exempt bowlers can't get to an event for any reason, the qualifying field expands to make each event start with a round of 64. (Forgive me if this is too large a field, the same could be done with 24 exempt and the top 8 from a qualifier going to a round of 32.)
- On said tour, there should be an event in each state, 3 other established events which could be participated in their original format but with tour points available, and the Australian Open. The established events and Open could be contested similarly to the PBA's majors, with different oil patterns.
- The tour would have the same oil pattern for the state events, which would make scoring consistent. This pattern would be very challenging (I don't know much about patterns so I can't be specific) and make for interesting play.
- Outside the tour, we should be showcasing state on state tournaments as well, state-of-origin concepts work. Also, some of the international events involving Australian national teams should at least be mentioned.
- At these events, once we get down to the semi-final rounds, where you can spread games across the entire centre, a showcase lane format can be used where only one game is on at a time, allowing emotion and excitement to build over one match, without disturbing any other games.
- We need to get some coverage on commercial TV. David Tapp Productions currently produce the NSW Cup rugby league and some speedway shows for oneHD and would be a great step to getting some exposure to a greater audience. No offence to the TBS but personally I've never seen it on air and even though I've seen it advertised at some centres, if I haven't seen it (and I love watching bowling on TV), then most people who don't watch TVS or follow bowling will probably not know about it. I can't remember the name of the man who set up TBS but I remember the story and in no way am I trying to have a go at you or belittle your efforts. I appreciate the effort you're making to get the sport exposure, and as I am heading into a similar field once I leave school, I have nothing but respect for you.
- We need to get Belmo involved in promoting the sport down here. We have one of the greatest bowlers in the world and most people have never heard of him because there is barely any exposure or mention of him outside the bowling circles. Ask anyone who Greg Norman, Kostya Tszyu or even Joe Hachem is and they'll probably give you a correct answer.
The main thing is, bowling won't be seen as a sport here unless we get a spot on commercial TV, showcasing some of our best, bringing in money from advertising and doing something similar to what happened to poker a couple of years ago, showcasing the serious and professional side by pitting our best against the world's best.
