2019 PBA Tour season

2019 PBA Tour season
League Professional Bowlers Association
Sport Ten-pin bowling
Duration January 2 – TBD
PBA Tour

The 2019 PBA Tour season, the 60th season of play for the U.S. Professional Bowlers Association's ten-pin bowling tour, will begin in January 2019 with the PBA Hall of Fame Classic in Arlington, Texas.

The 2019 season will introduce major changes, with Fox Sports assuming the media and sponsorship rights to the PBA Tour, as well as the introduction of a revamped PBA Tour Playoffs as a 24-player single-elimination tournament.

Tournament schedules

On March 21, 2018, Fox Sports announced that it had acquired the television rights for the PBA Tour, replacing ESPN, with a commitment for 26 broadcasts on Fox Sports 1 and four on Fox beginning in 2019 (totalling 58 hours, in comparison to the 30 hours of coverage provided by ESPN linear channels).[1][2] Fox will broadcast a PBA Clash event on December 23, 2018 to serve as a prelude for the 2019 season,[3] followed by four events per-season. These events will include the CP3 PBA Celebrity Invitational, whose television broadcast will also be moved to the Sunday of the NFL's Super Bowl.[2] Fox and FS1 will air 14 final rounds live, as compared to the four live broadcasts aired on ESPN in 2018. Fox Sports will also assume the role of sponsorship sales for the tour.[2] The PBA saw the deal as an effort to increase media exposure for the tour and its top players. In a similar manner to Fox's recent acquisition of NHRA drag racing, there will be a focus on developing new on-air features and technology to improve viewer understanding of the intricacies of the sport, and additional shoulder content.[2]

On August 28, 2018, the PBA announced that all televised events, except for the USBC Masters, will only be open to members of the association. The USBC Masters has traditionally allowed qualifying USBC members who may not be PBA members to participate, and will continue to do so. PBA Xtra Frame Tour, PBA Regional Tour and PBA50 Tour events will also continue to allow qualifying non-members to participate.[4]

The PBA Tournament of Champions and the PBA Players Championship will be held in February 2019. In order to include it in Fox's new contract, the PBA's World Series of Bowling X (which will include three standard PBA title events and the PBA World Championship — the season's third major) was postponed for 2018 and moved to March 2019, with live finals broadcasts occurring across four consecutive nights.[5][6] The season's fourth major, the USBC Masters, will take place March 26–April 1 in Las Vegas. The U.S. Open, the season's final major, has yet to be scheduled.

A revised PBA Playoffs will feature the top 24 players after the first 13 events of the 2019 season, and will offer a $100,000 top prize. The tournament is set up in a split format, with the elimination rounds held April 6–11 and the final four competing in two live broadcasts on June 1 and 2.[7]

Tournament summary

Events after July 28 are TBD. Major tournaments are in bold. Career PBA title numbers for winners are shown in parenthesis (#).[8][9]

EventAirdateCityPreliminary roundsFinal roundOil patternWinnerNotes
PBA Hall of Fame Classic Jan 6 FS1 Arlington, TX Jan 2–5 Live Open event.
PBA Oklahoma Open Jan 13 FS1 Shawnee, OK Jan 8–10 Live Open event.
Mark Roth-Marshall Holman PBA Doubles Championship Jan 20 FS1 Shawnee, OK Jan 11–12 Jan 13 Open event.
PBA Lubbock Open Jan 27 FS1 Lubbock, TX Jan 22–26 Live Open event.
PBA Tournament of Champions Feb 10 Fox Fairlawn, OH Feb 5–9 Live Invitational event. PBA major.
PBA Players Championship Feb 17 FS1 Columbus, OH Feb 12–16 Live Open event. PBA major.
PBA Indianapolis Open Feb 24 FS1 Indianapolis, IN Feb 19–23 Live Open event.
PBA Jonesboro Open Mar 3 FS1 Jonesboro, AR Feb 26 – Mar 2 Live Open event.
World Bowling Tour (WBT) Finals Mar 10 FS1 Arlington, TX 2017–18 WBT events Jan 6 Non-title event.
PBA WSOB X Cheetah Championship Mar 18 FS1 Allen Park, MI Mar 11, 14 Live Cheetah 33 Open event.
PBA WSOB X Chameleon Championship Mar 19 FS1 Allen Park, MI Mar 12, 14 Live Chameleon 39 Open event.
PBA WSOB X Scorpion Championship Mar 20 FS1 Allen Park, MI Mar 13, 15 Live Scorpion 42 Open event.
PBA World Championship Mar 21 FS1 Allen Park, MI Mar 11–13, 15–17 Live World Championship Open event for WSOB X entrants. PBA major.
USA vs. The World Mar 22 FS1 Allen Park, MI N/A Mar 21 TBD Non-title event, held at WSOB X.
USBC Masters Apr 1 FS1 Las Vegas, NV Mar 26–31 Live USBC Masters (custom) Open event. PBA major.
2019 PBA Tour Playoffs Rd. of 24 (1): Apr 8 FS1
Rd. of 24 (2): Apr 15 FS1
Rd. of 24 (3): Apr 22 FS1
Rd. of 24 (4): Apr 29 FS1
Rd. of 16 (1): May 6 FS1
Rd. of 16 (2): May 13 FS1
Quarterfinal 1: May 20 FS1
Quarterfinal 2: May 27 FS1
Final Four: Jun 1 Fox
Finals: Jun 2 Fox		 Portland, ME Apr 6–11 Live Multiple Top 24 in points through YTD 2019 events, with the top 8 earning byes into the Round of 16. $100,000 top prize.
PBA DHC Japan Invitational Apr 28 Xtra Frame Tokyo, Japan Apr 25–27 Live Invitational event.
PBA League Quarterfinals 1: Jul 16 FS1
Quarterfinals 2: Jul 16 FS1
Semifinals: Jul 17 FS1
Finals: Jul 18 FS1		 Portland, ME Jul 16–17 Live PBA team event.
Xtra Frame PBA/PWBA Striking Against Breast Cancer Mixed Doubles Jul 28 Xtra Frame Houston, TX Jul 25–27 Live Open PBA and PWBA title event.

References

  1. ↑ Steinberg, Brian (2018-03-20). "Professional Bowling Rolls to Fox Sports". Variety. Retrieved 2018-03-22.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "PBA sees Fox Sports TV deal as a game changer". Sports Business Daily. Retrieved 2018-09-08.
  3. ↑ Lowe, Kent. "Good news, Rob Stone moves to Fox for bowling telecasts". The Advocate. Retrieved 2018-09-08.
  4. ↑ Vint, Bill (August 28, 2018). "2019 Go Bowling! PBA Tour Tournaments on FOX to be Open to PBA Members Only". pba.com. Retrieved August 29, 2018.
  5. ↑ "Dougherty: No World Series of Bowling in 2018". Albany Times Union. 2018-05-15. Retrieved 2018-09-08.
  6. ↑ Vint, Bill (May 9, 2018). "PBA's 10th Anniversary World Series of Bowling Returns to Its Detroit Roots in March 2019". PBA.com. Retrieved May 10, 2018.
  7. ↑ Vint, Bill (May 30, 2018). "PBA-FOX Sports Announce Historic Television Schedule for 2019 Go Bowling! PBA Tour Season". pba.com. Retrieved May 30, 2018.
  8. ↑ "2019 Go Bowling! PBA Tour Schedule". PBA.com. Retrieved August 20, 2018.
  9. ↑ "National Television Schedule". PBA.com. Retrieved August 20, 2018.
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