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]
| Event | Airdate | City | Preliminary rounds | Final round | Oil pattern | Winner | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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
- ^ Steinberg, Brian (2018-03-20). "Professional Bowling Rolls to Fox Sports". Variety. Retrieved 2018-03-22.
- ^ a b c d "PBA sees Fox Sports TV deal as a game changer". Sports Business Daily. Retrieved 2018-09-08.
- ^ Lowe, Kent. "Good news, Rob Stone moves to Fox for bowling telecasts". The Advocate. Retrieved 2018-09-08.
- ^ 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.
- ^ "Dougherty: No World Series of Bowling in 2018". Albany Times Union. 2018-05-15. Retrieved 2018-09-08.
- ^ 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.
- ^ 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.
- ^ "2019 Go Bowling! PBA Tour Schedule". PBA.com. Retrieved August 20, 2018.
- ^ "National Television Schedule". PBA.com. Retrieved August 20, 2018.