A FUTURE FOR THE SPORT - 2024 RECAP, 2025 PREVIEW
By Chad Murphy, USBC Executive Director
Hello, we hope everyone is healthy and doing well both on and off the lanes as we head into 2025. Looking back at 2024, we saw another fantastic year for bowling and for USBC. Participation trends look terrific as does engagement throughout the association at all levels. I can’t say enough about how proud we are of the wonderful passion and efforts of our association volunteers and proprietors across the country.
USBC’s three-year membership continues to be one of the best we have seen in decades. The 2023-2024 season finished within a few hundred members of the prior season. Over the last three years, we have seen a growth in league bowlers. Here are the numbers:
- 2021-2022 – 1,053,129
- 2022-2023 – 1,093,909
- 2023-2024 – 1,093,000
The national tournaments had a fantastic year, highlighted by the Open Championships in Las Vegas at South Point having more than 11,000 teams. This was the highest total in the last 12 years! The Women’s Championships visited Reno and grew by more than 1,000 teams from our last visit there in 2021. While 2024 entries dipped year over year, we expected that since the 2023 event was in Las Vegas.USBC Open Championships:
- 2021 – 7,609 teams
- 2022 – 9,317 teams
- 2023 – 9,565 teams
- 2024 – 11,012 teams
- 2021 – 2,552 teams
- 2022 – 3,155 teams
- 2023 – 4,148 teams
- 2024 – 3,668 teams
Some milestones took place on the lanes at these events. “Mr. 900” Glenn Allison broke the all-time participation record with his 72nd appearance at the USBC Open Championships! We honored Glenn at the USBC Convention in April as well after his achievement; it was a special moment for everyone. The event also welcomed two new members into the prestigious 100,000-Pin Club - Frankie May Jr. of Sinking Spring, Pennsylvania, and John Kerpan of Waukegan, Illinois.At the Women’s Championships, Jacquelyn Nelson of Siler City, North Carolina, made her 60th tournament appearance. These milestones show amazing commitment from these bowlers at the Championships.
We were excited to announce a couple of East Coast stops for the Championships this past year. In 2028, the Open Championships will be heading to Greenville, South Carolina, for the very first time in the tournament’s history. The Women’s Championships will be in suburban Charlotte, North Carolina, in 2027.
On the professional side, the PWBA Tour, which continues to be jointly supported and funded by the Bowling Proprietors’ Association of America and the USBC, continues to thrive. Several events this year were sold out with a PTQ before the event. The tour also had some firsts this year with:
- Sin Li Jane becoming the first Asian bowler to win PWBA Player of the Year.
- Lauren Russo winning her first title at the Southern Indiana Open.
- The first PWBA/PBA/PBA 50 Trios event being contested in Jonesboro, Arkansas.
- Jillian Martin becoming the youngest USBC Queens champion.
- Kaitlyn Stull becoming the youngest regional winner.
The 2025 season will celebrate the 10-year anniversary of the relaunch of the PWBA Tour. The season will be highlighted in Green Bay, Wisconsin, at the Junior Gold Championships with an arena final at the opening ceremony.Beyond the PWBA Tour, competitive bowling continues to be successful at USBC. There were several highlights on the USBC tournament side:
- Team USA Trials saw a record turnout with 175 men and 153 women competing, the highest since 2020.
- The USBC Masters sold out in less than two hours with 465 entries.
- Both the U.S. Open and U.S. Women’s Open had impressive participation, with the U.S. Open PTQ hitting full capacity for two years straight at 108 entries.
- The USBC Senior Queens attracted 93 participants, the most since 2011.
- USBC conducted the inaugural U22 Masters and U22 Queens in the Detroit area.
- The USBC Senior Championships drew 411 competitors to Cincinnati, marking the highest turnout since 2019.
We also celebrate the champions of 2024:
- Shannon Pluhowsky and Darren Tang claimed victory at the Team USA Trials, while Julian Salinas and Crystal Elliott were crowned U.S. Amateur champions.
- At the USBC Masters, DeeRonn Booker made history as the t
hird African American to earn a PBA title. - In the U.S. Open, Kyle Troup emerged victorious, while Sin Li Jane claimed her first major title at the U.S. Women’s Open.
- Jillian Martin made history by becoming the youngest champion at the USBC Queens, while Kathy Ledford triumphed in the USBC Senior Queens.
- In the USBC Senior Masters, Jon Rakoski secured his first major title, and Jack Jurek clinched the USBC Super Senior Classic championship with an impressive 299.
- The inaugural U22 Masters and U22 Queens saw Brandon Bohn and Dannielle Henderson as their first champions.
Many don’t realize the volume of approvals that go through the USBC equipment testing labs. In 2024, we tested and approved over 244 ball models, 24 pin permit renewals, five lane panel renewals, three new approved string pinsetter models and 12 other products, including ball cleaners, lane oils and ball plug.
We get asked a lot about string pinsetters and how they are impacting the sport. Currently our data shows 65 centers nationwide that have installed USBC approved string pinsetters. Therefore, 1.7% of certified centers are using them. Beginning in 2021, USBC also began tracking certified centers that converted to non-approved string pinsetters. In that time 30 centers switched to uncertified machines impacting about 4,000 members total. However, since USBC announced standards for approved string pinsetters, only one certified center in the country has switched to an uncertified machine.
Alongside the approval testing, the equipment specifications team is researching ways to incorporate new technology to improve the way we measure key aspects of technology in our sport. The team published three research reports in 2024, showcasing the development of an alternative COR measurement for bowling balls and suspension of the specification, using infrared spectroscopy to study bowling ball coverstock materials and analysis of the scores around the country since the suspension of the three-unit rule for lane patterns.On the center certification side, our team members inspected 1,107 centers and 23,718 lane beds in 2024, bringing the total center and lane bed counts inspected by the national team to 2,273 centers and 48,683 lanes. This program continues to be very successful due to the new ACE Tool providing a much more efficient inspection experience and increased confidence in the accuracy of the data.
- $2.55 million in bonus scholarships to the 6,344 active SMART Recipients. Each student received a new $400 SMART scholarship.
- SMART’s Pell Grant Match program awarded more than $3.7 million.
- $1.9 million in new SMART deposited unassigned funds for Providers to allocate toward future scholarships.
USBC’s Coaching program saw a strong commitment to coaching development and bowler advancement by hosting more than 40 Bronze and Silver coaching classes. Those classes, in addition to USBC’s online training, resulted in more than 1,000 coaches gaining elite-level training. Plus, USBC Coaching's Gold validation program added Tom Laskow as our first Gold coach since 2019.
The 2024 USBC Convention, held in April at South Point in Las Vegas, was once again a successful gathering. We continue to get great feedback from delegates about the education and seminars offered during the event. Our keynote speaker Marvelless Mark, who delivered a “rock-star themed” speech, had the delegates engaged while banging on drumsticks, and we had an emotional special recognition on stage for Glenn Allison.Out in the field, continuation of the Association Leadership Academy program brings training and education to our volunteers across the country who may not be able to attend convention. Since the inaugural event in 2017, there have been 36 ALAs, including five in 2024, which have involved nearly 1,400 association leaders from over 700 different associations.
The Team USA program continued to shine in 2024. In five different competitions on three continents, Team USA, Junior Team USA and Senior Team USA collected a total of 42 medals – 19 gold, 14 silver and nine bronze. The men’s squad averaged more than 235 as a unit, setting a new team record at the PANAM Bowling Championships to earn the gold medal with a 7,052 total. The winning crew featured Packy Hanrahan, AJ Johnson, Jake Peters, Spencer Robarge, Julian Salinas and Darren Tang. The Team USA women’s squad of Shannon Pluhowsky, Lauren Russo and Jillian Martin won gold in the trios event.
Turning to the Youth bowling scene:
Youth bowling continues to thrive as USBC remains committed to developing opportunities for the next generation of athletes. The 2024 USBC Junior Gold Championships drew an impressive 3,114 participants, joined by 147 players at the USA Bowling National Championships, 1,144 competitors in Survivor and 898 bowlers at the Youth Open. Collectively, these events awarded an extraordinary $685,570 in scholarships – an investment that directly supports young athletes in pursuing their education and dreams.
Membership growth remained a highlight, as youth membership surpassed 100,000 for the third consecutive year.To support leagues, coaches and volunteers, the Youth League Resource Guide debuted at the USBC Convention and has since been shared across state associations and BPAA meetings. Equally encouraging is the 20% participation growth in USA Bowling tournaments.
This year also marked the induction of five distinguished individuals into the USBC Collegiate Hall of Fame, an exciting first class for this prestigious recognition that celebrates collegiate excellence.
On the marketing and media side . . .
Our publications and digital platforms experienced remarkable growth. Bowlers Journal marked its third consecutive year of increased circulation, distributing nearly 275,000 copies in 2024, averaging 23,000 per month.
Enhancements in our digital presence included the expansion of BowlTV, now accessible via Roku, Apple TV and various Smart TV platforms. This development made it more convenient for subscribers to watch their favorite bowlers compete across multiple tours. Coverage from our dedicated BowlTV production team helped attract 26,000 users to login and watch in 2024, with a peak concurrent of 4,070 viewers watching the USBC Masters.Additionally, the PWBA unveiled a redesigned website focused on user-friendly navigation and athlete-centric content, while USBC updated its BOWL.com mobile application, introducing features aimed at improving the user experience for our members.
The USBC distributed more than 400 press releases and game stories over the course of 2024, including comprehensive coverage of USBC and PWBA events.
At the Open Championships, video interviews were incorporated into many of the game stories from the event, providing fans with more access to the competitors.
The "Why I Certify" campaign resonated deeply within the bowling community, generating more than six million media impressions and engaging thousands of bowlers who shared their personal stories, highlighting the unique aspects of our sport.Our digital outreach was robust, with more than 750 segmented emails totaling nearly 11 million sent to members, alongside over 6,000 social media posts that garnered more than 60 million impressions. This comprehensive communication strategy ensured that members nationwide received engaging and informative content, keeping them connected to the sport and the organization.
In the technology space, USBC continues to invest and deliver big improvements. Members can do more on BOWL.com than ever before. By simply logging into their community profile, members can update addresses, renew their membership, print membership cards and check on SafeSport and RVP status.We are continuing to build tools to make it easier for proprietors to run USBC-certified leagues. This includes a League Registration portal and a “Bulk Membership” processing option for centers to directly buy USBC memberships for their bowlers. These products can save work for both the center and the local association. In 2025, we will actively be working to introduce these systems in more markets.
USBC is also investing in technology for our associations. We are seeing the use of online tournament registration skyrocketing. USBC Association Tournaments collected more than $7 million in tournament entries through our online system in 2024. We are really proud to see so many local and state associations embracing new technologies.So, where does all this leave us financially? At the 2024 USBC Convention, we shared that we would not need a dues increase until 2027 at the earliest and maybe even further down the line. Instead, USBC would use investment reserves to cover losses. Well, thanks to overperformance of the tournament and membership revenue, USBC is performing better than expected. We will continue our practice of giving a detailed update at Convention but know that things are looking bright for USBC financially as we start 2025.
2025 and Beyond
We will continue to make quality service a priority for USBC. Quality service to our members, associations, centers and industry partners is an everyday commitment. Great customer service drives USBC’s success in our five key areas of focus (see below).
Membership
The trends are solid. As of Jan. 1, USBC membership is currently forecast to be down 1-2%. The majority of USBC-Certified Centers are doing extremely well with leagues. We are seeing most proprietors either holding steady or growing their league base.
We will have more info by the time we get to USBC Convention and will report then. Again, I can’t thank the folks who control our membership success at the local level enough. The centers, league coordinators, the league officers and the associations are doing a fantastic job. Thanks again for the commitment to servicing our league base.
Tournaments
Awesome, amazing, spectacular. It’s difficult to overstate how great things look for the 2025 Open Championships in Baton Rouge. As of January 2025, we have over 11,480 teams registered for the 2025 Open Championships. This will mark a fifth straight year of growth. We adjusted squad times to increase capacity for 2025, and that turned out to be a good move.Moving forward, we return to Reno in 2026. Our staff have been in close discussions with partners in Reno looking for ways to further improve the experience for our bowlers. Look for some exciting programs for Reno in 2026.
All of this is very positive for USBC’s Championships and the association overall. As for the USBC Women’s Championships, the event returns to Las Vegas this year. We have about 4,000 teams sold currently, which is growth over 2024 and trending toward our totals from Vegas in 2023.
The 2025 PWBA schedule is out, and we have a couple new locations this season. As we head into the 10th year of the relaunched tour, the structure of the tour remains the same but will have an exciting new showcase event.
The finals of the PWBA Anniversary Open in Green Bay, Wisconsin, will be showcased in a special arena setting as part of Junior Gold. This will be a spectacular event for both Junior Gold and the PWBA.
The 2025 USBC Masters sold out in less than an hour. USBC is seeing unprecedented excitement for our 2025 events.
Youth Program Development
USBC’s vision for 2025 prioritizes continued growth, engagement and innovation across youth bowling programs.
Building on the success of the Youth League Resource Guide, we will conduct a comprehensive user survey to gather feedback that will inform significant enhancements.
We are starting work on a new Youth Athlete Ranking System. The vision is an innovative platform designed to provide young athletes with real-time visibility into how they rank among their peers. We see this type of online platform in other sports and want to bring a similar excitement and exposure for bowling.
We will also commemorate a milestone anniversary for one of youth bowling’s premier events — the 20th year of the Dexter All-American Team. To mark this occasion, participants can look forward to a newly designed trophy, refreshed team jerseys and other enhancements to celebrate two decades of excellence.USBC will showcase these updates at the PTO Today Expo, expanding the program’s reach to decision-makers nationwide. A strategic push will ensure that the Bowler’s Ed curriculum lands in the hands of K-8 educators across the country, introducing thousands of students to engaging, active and enriching physical education opportunities.
Finally, USBC will strengthen its efforts through the Bowler’s Ed program, launching a dynamic new educational video series that will support educators and coaches in teaching bowling fundamentals.We also want to share that starting in 2025, we will be sunsetting IBC Youth Bowling. For our members, the difference will be a gradual branding change to USBC Youth. All programs, support and operation of youth programming will stay in place. BPAA will continue to invest in youth bowling as part of our campus partnership, with USBC Youth being the brand moving forward.
Marketing/Media
Exposure for competitive bowling will be terrific again in 2025. USBC and the PBA will continue our partnership for the U.S. Open and USBC Masters to be part of the PBA Tour on FOX package. CBS Sports Network will be home for the PWBA, USBC Collegiate, Junior Gold and USA Bowling.BowlTV will continue to be the exclusive livestreaming home for the PBA, PWBA, USBC Collegiate, Junior Gold and Team USA events. BowlTV aims to enhance the viewer experience by incorporating more fan-focused programming and leveraging advanced technology to offer content that extends beyond traditional bowling broadcasts.
Bowlers Journal plans to introduce a new collegiate poll for the bowling industry and update the PBA "Greatest of All Time" list, alongside a new list for the PWBA as it celebrates its 10th anniversary since the relaunch.In 2025, look for a chatbot system on BOWL.com, facilitating quick and efficient responses to common inquiries. In alignment with our commitment to supporting diverse local programs, we are launching a grant program designed to provide resources to local and national initiatives that reflect USBC’s goal to support bowling programs for all groups.
USBC will also continue our partnerships with BPAA and Strike Ten Entertainment that delivers the Go Bowling brand to raise top-of-mind awareness for the sport outside of our own channels. Go Bowling has a larger strategy to expand awareness about bowling. You probably have seen the Go Bowling brand with floats in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day and New Year’s Day Rose Parade or maybe National Bowling Day on Fox and Friends, The Go Bowling Military Bowl or Go Bowling-sponsored NASCAR events. Go Bowling’s media reach hits tens of millions of people, and we’re excited to see what they have planned for 2025.When you combine these digital, streaming, broadcast and traditional print offerings, USBC and its partnerships are providing coverage of bowling from all angles.
Technology
A big goal for 2025 will be increasing the use of USBC’s new technology tools. The “Bulk Membership” processing tool and online join save work for proprietors and associations. On the development side, associations can look for an improved supply order tool through BOWL.com along with new features in tournament registration to make it easier to set up a new event or copy from last year without needing support from USBC staff.
In 2025, we also plan to include the ability to upgrade an Adult Basic membership to National Standard online. This came up as a suggestion during the town hall portion of Convention, and we are pleased to deliver it.
Equipment Specifications
As announced in 2022, USBC’s center inspection data will lead to a new tiered center certification structure. As we head into 2025, the certification team will be finishing the third year of inspections. Thus, we will have completed an inspection for each certified bowling center in the country. We now have the data to introduce the details of the tiered program. This has come about through extensive feedback from proprietors and numerous working groups. We have been striving to make a program that provides value for the proprietor while meeting our obligation as the governing body. Look for more details about the new tiered program at USBC Convention in May.
Summary
Our National Governing Body had a wonderful 2024 and continues moving forward and improving. We should all be proud of the accomplishments.
Thank you to the current USBC Board of Directors in addition to all the committees for their leadership, support and strategic direction. Thank you to our past president Melissa McDaniel collaborating with current president Dennis Hacker on a smooth and strong transition of leadership. The continuity of USBC’s direction and vision at the board level has been the driving force in our success.
Having strong volunteer leadership has never been more important. In that light, a huge thanks to the thousands of association volunteers who dedicate countless hours in support of bowling.
Finally, thank you to our entire staff here at the International Bowling Campus for their efforts and passion.
I will close with a friendly reminder as to the mission and promise of USBC. It is certainly an honor and a privilege to serve as your executive director.
USBC is the National Governing Body for the sport.
Our mission is to provide services, resources and standards for the sport.
Our promise is to celebrate the past, be mindful of the present and ensure bowling’s future through thoughtful research, planning and delivery. We will protect and nurture the sport with a mutual admiration and respect for all who enjoy bowling.
