Before I start, let me preface this by saying this article is merely my opinion and should only be taken as such.
Over the last few months, I have seen the lefty vs. righty debate rage out of control over Facebook, Instagram, Whatsapp and random bowling alley discussion. You commonly see skilled lefties putting up big numbers and winning tournaments across Long island while righties struggle to compete. And when this happens, the common theme is to blame the game, blame the bowling balls, blame the dominant hand, blame anything and everything . . . except yourself. Heck, just last week, the LIUSBC 700 Club Tournament concluded and one astute reader pointed out that not one right-handed bowler beat a left-handed bowler in the Final bracket. And yesterday, another well-respected member of the LI Bowling Community made a Facebook status that completely got out of control, resulting in (as of this article) over 270 responses in less than 24 hours. So the question we're all asking ourselves is . . . why is bowling a dying sport?
To say bowling is dying because of one reason is naive. There are MANY reasons why the popularity of bowling has decreased over the years. Let's start by taking a look at the Top Money Earners in PBA History as of 2019:
Of those 11 names, how many earned most of their money after say 2010? Zero. Heck, how many of those bowlers are still competitive on the PBA tour? Norm Duke. Who else? They all earned most of their money back in the 80s and 90s, when bowling was much larger in popularity.
Now let's take a look at the Top 10 Earning Leaders by Year on the PBA:
https://www.pba.com/page/Top10EarningsLeadersBySeason
Compare 2017 to say 1988. In 2017, the tenth highest earner, Sean Rash, made a little over $74K. In 1988, the tenth highest earner, Tony Westlake, made over $121K. The stats clearly show that, even on the PBA tour, the interest in bowling has waned over the past 3 decades. Why?
I remember in 1996, I joined my first adult league, the Thursday night Keglers at Sterling Bowl (one of the many bowling centers that are now defunct). When I joined, there were 4 men on a team and the league had 36 teams. And that wasn't close to the largest league in the house. On Monday night, there was a 5-man per team league with 40 teams! However, as of 3 years ago, I bowled in a Thursday night league at Herrill Lanes that dropped down from 18 team to 13 teams and had to convert to trios just to stay afloat. As I write this, I'm currently in a Thursday night foursomes league that has 18 teams. Why are the leagues dying?
Let's begin, in no particular order:
1. The sheer number of entertainment alternatives has increased exponentially.
In 1988, the internet didn't exist. Fortnite didn't exist. Facebook didn't exist. Children played outside. Nintendo debuted in 1985 but it wasn't big yet. My parents played cards with their friends every Friday night. The children played board games. Nowadays, you have TV, you have internet, you have Playstation, you have XBox, you have multi-player shooting games that allow you to play online with 100 people at a time, some as far as Australia and Fiji. We as a species require entertainment. There's a reason athletes get paid substantially more than surgeons. We need entertainment and the sheer number of entertainment sources has increased exponentially over the years.
2. Scoring is out of control because of advances in technology.
One of the arguments is that the equipment has gotten so good that even once a week bowlers can compete with PBA bowlers. In that aforementioned league, the high average in my league was 210 by someone who used a Urethane ball. Nowadays, you regularly see the high averages in the 240's and sometimes higher. The reactive resin bowling balls are so strong, you don't even have to really hit the pocket to strike sometimes. When people no longer feel they can compete, they will stop trying. I clearly recall as recently as a few years ago, my league went from 24 teams to 18 teams in one year. The lower wrung of teams dropped out because they averaged 180 and simply couldn't compete anymore. They felt they were throwing away their money and just gave it up altogether. The game and the equipment had passed them by and they didn't want to relearn everything. How many other sports can you honestly say that amateurs can compete with pros? Can a park player compete with LeBron James? Can a stickball player compete with Mike Trout? Can a touch-football league player compete with Tom Brady? Of course not. But, on any given day, can a league bowler beat Jason Belmonte? Probably not regularly, but would you really be that surprised if the high average in your league beat him 2-3 out of 10 games? The difference in skill level still exists, but the bowling balls have made it so that even normal league bowlers feel they can compete with PBA bowlers. In 2004-05, there were 51,162 sanctioned 300's. In 1981-82, there were 5,949. This speaks volumes.
3. Dumping.
Listen, every sport has people and teams that strategically throw away games in order to build for the future. In baseball and basketball, teams tank in order to get higher probabilities for their respective drafts. In bowling, people throw away pins in order to lower their averages and raise their handicaps. Is it frowned upon in all sports? Yes. Is it illegal? No. However, it can be argued that it has pushed some people away from the sport. I can recall more than once having conversations with people that said they were no longer bowling because certain teams would dump and run away with leagues when they had to turn it on. Defend it all you want, but it has pushed some people away.
4. Cost.
You used to be able to bowl 3 games with shoes for $0.25. Now it's $7.00 per game. League bowling commonly costs upwards of $30 per week to bowl and usually only the Top 3 teams get their money back. You can come in fourth place in a league with 18 teams and lose money. Bowling is a competitive sport and no one wants to feel like they're simply donating their money.
5. Handicap.
This goes hand-in-hand with a few other items on this list, but bowling is the only sport in which the better bowlers are oftentimes penalized for being better than their competition. When a team of 4 170 bowlers is bowling a team of 4 220 bowlers, oftentimes the former wins because of the discrepancy in handicap. It's simply easier to bowl 170 than 220. And when just one of those 170 bowlers pops out a 200 game, you're basically forcing one of the 220 bowlers to throw a 6 or 7 bagger just to compete. In other sports, the best players or teams win, even on lower levels. In little league baseball, the better team usually wins. In bowling, not so much.
6. Attention Deficit Generation.
We live in the generation of attention deficit. People want to win and they want to win now. No one wants to practice. No one wants to put the work into improving. Everyone wants to win. And when they lose, it's someone else's fault.
- the lanes are too hard
- oh, he's a lefty
- oh, he has brand new equipment
- the house sucks
- the oil pattern sucks
- the league before us dried everything out
- I had a bad day at work
- the approaches are slippery
- we're giving too much handicap
- I stubbed my toe
Excuses, excuses, excuses, everyone makes excuses. When was the last time you honestly heard someone legitimately say, "hey man, the lanes were fine, everything was fine, I just didn't execute?" No one wants to take accountability for their actions, and no one wants to admit they just aren't good at something. We all want to be good and we all want to win and NOW! And if I don't win, I'm simply not going to participate.
7. The lefty vs. righty conundrum.
Listen, you're honestly foolish if you don't think lefties have a natural advantage. It's not their fault, it's just that 97% of the world is right-handed and so naturally the right side of the lane is going to dry out faster than the left side. Right-handers are going to have to adjust faster and more efficiently than left-handers. I understand why left-handed bowlers are sensitive about this issue, but it's a factor that isn't going away anytime soon.
To say bowling is dying because of one of these reasons (or another reason) alone doesn't make any sense. Bowling has decreased in popularity because of many reasons, but in my opinion, the #1 reason is because of the number of alternative sources of entertainment, plain and simple. Leagues will continue to decrease in size. Bowling centers will continue to go out of business. Honestly, is there anything we can really do about it? How about we just continue enjoying the game for what it is, America's umpteenth favorite pastime.
For another good article on this subject, please check the following link:
https://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/01/sports/othersports/01bowling.html
