CHICAGO (Nov. 8, 2017) – The Professional Bowlers Association and ESPN are teaming up for the 38th consecutive year to provide millions of sports fans with world-class bowling action beginning Sunday, Dec. 10, from the GEICO PBA World Series of Bowling IX presented by Eldorado Reno Properties.

 

A total of 17 competitions on Sundays through May will feature the best players in the world in a diverse series of events that will decide the 2017 Player of the Year race and kickstart the 2018 Go Bowling PBA Tour’s benchmark 60th anniversary season. All events will also stream live via the ESPN app.

 

 

"ESPN is looking forward to another year of PBA on our networks," said Burke Magnus, ESPN Executive Vice President of Programming and Scheduling. "One of our longest-standing relationships, PBA on ESPN provides exciting content for both avid and casual bowling fans, and it continues to serve an important sector of our fan base."

 

Looking ahead at notable highlights for what promises to be one of the PBA’s most interesting TV seasons ever:

 

- The PBA Tournament of Champions will make an historic return to its longtime host center AMF Riviera Lanes near Akron, Ohio, where the PBA’s signature event was held from 1966-1994.

 

- The United States Bowling Congress Masters will be contested in a special arena setting in Syracuse, N.Y.’s downtown Convention Center.

 

- The PBA’s new Go Bowling! PBA 60th Anniversary Classic, as part of a season-long celebration

highlighting the PBA’s creation in 1958, will come from Woodland Bowl in Indianapolis, one of the leading tournament venues in the country and host of numerous PBA major championships.

 

- The State Farm Chris Paul PBA Celebrity Invitational presented by Go Bowling, in its eighth year moves to NBA star Paul’s new home in Houston and returns to a Super Bowl Sunday air date.

 

- The PBA World Championship as the WSOB’s main event, along with all PBA animal pattern championships, a USA vs. World team event and the World Bowling Finals come from bowling’s greatest stage, the National Bowling Stadium in Reno, Nev.

 

- The PBA League team event returns to raucous Bayside Bowl in Portland, Maine, where the Elias Cup will be decided over a series of four telecasts.

 

- Columbus, Ohio, hosts both the Barbasol PBA Players Championship and the Mark Roth/Marshall Holman Doubles Championship presented by BowlerX.com.

 

In addition to 29 hours of live coverage of PBA competition on ESPN, ESPN3 and streaming on the ESPNapp, the Go Bowling! PBA Tour schedule will feature a season-long celebration of the “60 Greatest Moments in PBA History.” Those moments will be counted down and revealed on the ESPN telecasts beginning with the PBA’s “Big February” slate of events. And, as part of the 60th Anniversary celebration, a new opening for the ESPN telecasts has been produced and can be seen here:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BUdShnqLUgA

 

Promotional tune-in posters (attached) will be in more than 2,500 Bowling Proprietor Association of America Strike Ten participating centers as part of the Go Bowling umbrella sponsorship of the PBA.

 

All qualifying rounds of competition and archived ESPN finals will be on the PBA’s online bowling channel, Xtra Frame. For subscription and scheduling information go to xtraframe.tv or download the PBA Xtra Frame app.

 

 

Sunday, Dec. 10, 1 p.m.** – USA vs. The World, National Bowling Stadium, Reno, Nev. (live on ESPN3 and ESPN app, Nov. 17, 9 p.m.)

Sunday, Dec. 17, 1 p.m.** – PBA Chameleon Championship presented by Reno Tahoe, National Bowling Stadium, Reno, Nev. (live on ESPN3 and ESPN app, Nov. 18, 3 p.m.)

Sunday, Dec. 17, 2 p.m.** – PBA Shark Championship presented by Xtra Frame, National Bowling Stadium, Reno, Nev. (live on ESPN3 and ESPN app, Nov. 18, 5:30 p.m.)

Sunday, Dec. 24, 1 p.m.** – PBA Cheetah Championship presented by PBA Bowling Challenge Mobile Game, National Bowling Stadium, Reno, Nev. (live on ESPN3 and ESPN app, Nov. 18, 7:15 p.m.)

Sunday, Dec, 24, 2 p.m.** – Pepsi PBA Scorpion Championship presented by Go Bowling!, National Bowling Stadium, Reno, Nev. (live on ESPN3 and ESPN app, Nov. 18, 9 p.m.)

Sunday, Dec. 31, 1 p.m.** – PBA World Championship, National Bowling Stadium, Reno, Nev. (live on ESPN3 and ESPN app, Nov. 19, 3 p.m.)

Sunday, Jan. 7, 1 p.m.** – World Bowling Tour Men’s and Women’s Finals presented by PBA, National Bowling Stadium, Reno, Nev. (live on ESPN3 and ESPN app, Nov. 19, 6:30 p.m.)

Sunday, Feb. 4, 2 p.m. – State Farm CP3 PBA Celebrity Invitational presented by Go Bowling! (Houston, Texas, tba)

Sunday, Feb. 11, 1 p.m. – PBA Tournament of Champions, AMF Riviera Lanes, Fairlawn, Ohio, live.

Sunday, Feb. 18, 1 p.m. – Go Bowling! PBA 60th Anniversary Classic, Woodland Bowl, Indianapolis, live.

Sunday, Feb. 25, 1 p.m. – Barbasol PBA Players Championship, Wayne Webb’s Columbus Bowl, Columbus, Ohio, live.

Sunday, March 25, 2 p.m.** – Mark Roth/Marshall Holman PBA Doubles Championship presented by BowlerX.com, Wayne Webb’s Columbus Bowl, Columbus, Ohio (live on ESPN3 and ESPN app, Feb. 25, 4:30 p.m.)

Sunday, April 15, 1 p.m. – USBC Masters, Nicholas J. Pirro Convention Center, Syracuse, N.Y., live.

Sunday, April 22, 1 p.m.** – PBA League Quarterfinals 1 & 2, Bayside Bowl, Portland, Maine (live on ESPN3 and ESPN app, April 21, noon)

Sunday, April 29, 1 p.m.** – PBA League Quarterfinals 3 & 4, Bayside Bowl, Portland, Maine (live on ESPN3 and ESPN app, April 21, 3:30 p.m.)

Sunday, May 6, 1 p.m.** – PBA League Semifinals 1 & 2, Bayside Bowl, Portland, Maine (live on ESPN3 and ESPN app, April 22, noon)

Sunday, May 13, 1 p.m.** – PBA League Elias Cup Finals, Bayside Bowl, Portland, Maine (live on ESPN3 and ESPN app, April 22, 3:30 p.m.)