When former Microsoft whiz Chris Peters purchased the Professional Bowlers Association, he did so with one purpose in mind: to make money. It may have seemed like a rescue mission to bowling fans around the country, but Mr. Peters had other plans. After all, why would any sane business person purchase a sports organization on the brink of bankruptcy?
Peters, an avid professional bowling fan, concluded that to reverse the PBA fortunes, drastic changes would be necessary.
His initial action was to hire Steve Miller, a former Nike genius whose main function was negotiating endorsement contracts with Nike’s world-class athletes. Prior to his affiliation with Nike, he establishing a reputation as athletic director at Kansas State University, where he transformed K-State sports from a perennial doormat in the Big Eight Conference to one of the nation’s most powerful athletic programs.
Peters added another ex-Nike wizard, Ian Hamilton, plus numerous other talented employees, including director of corporate Communications Beth Marshall. He retained PBA holdovers Bobby Dinkins, Dave Schroeder, Kirk Von Krueger, and Russ Twoey.
The PBA headquarters in downtown Seattle occupies almost an entire floor, manned by over 32 regular employees and seven contractual individuals. They plan to add six or seven more before the end of the year.
Peters and his associates began their ominous task by instituting a five-year plan that focused on increased membership, larger purses, and formats designed to emphasize match play. The PBA established a standard season similar to other major sports; a season that would begin in September and end in March. They secured a TV package with ESPN that assured continuity and featured promotional spots, including profiling PBA players.
The new PBA is about to begin its third full season. And how have it progressed? What have it accomplished to date? What are the future plans and are they on schedule as planned?
According to Steve Miller, the PBA is about one year ahead of plans in terms of finance. They projected a profit in 2004 but feel certain they will turn a profit in 2003. The strategies to increase the PBA and its players’ visibility are seeing good results. They have seen the players and the PBA’s public awareness increase, growing, and ahead of schedule.
The PBA membership, prior to the new takeover, totaled 2,300. To date, it is over 4,000 and counting. The regional program is greater than ever and for the first time ever the regional program has shown a profit. For example, there were over 140 entries in a recent regional tournament, compared to 60 or 70 in previous tournaments.
Although rumors of disenchantment among players on the Senior Tour were widespread, its membership has risen. The burning question among senior players was whether or not they would have television. Miller’s answer was an emphatic “no”—at least not at the present time but perhaps in a year or two. This would be contingent on sponsors. According to Steve Miller, “In all sports, including Major League Baseball, the National Football League, the National Basketball Association, or any other major sport, the most important people are fans and sponsors, not the players. If you have no sponsors or television, you have nothing.”
The PBA has 13 new sponsors. Even more important, all current sponsors have expressed a desire to renew. The ESPN contract has another year to go with a three-year option, thereby assuring another four years with America’s leading television sports station. Furthermore, the ESPN-ABC partnership has opened the door for network television, thus making it possible for ABC coverage on PBA major tournaments in the future. However, the possible inclusion of ABC TV does not diminish the tremendous job done by ESPN, particularly in promos and lead-ins.
One of the most gratifying accomplishments of the new PBA is the ESPN ratings. The all-important demographics, that is, viewers in the 18-34 range, have quadrupled—four times larger than ever before. This is the age bracket that influences ad agencies and sponsors.
Have these figures succeeded in drawing new sponsors? Consider the fact that in the previous year, the PBA had 13 sponsors. At the time of this writing, sponsors have increased to 30.
Oddly, out of the entire bowling industry, the only sponsor that came aboard was the American Bowling Congress. The ABC contributed $350,000 to the Masters tournament and remained the lone ntity in the industry to partake in PBA affairs—until this year. Now, most of the bowling integers have joined to swell product registration to over $1 million. People are coming back and starting to call. More startling, however, was Miller’s prediction that within five years, an umbrella sponsor will emerge to the tune of $5 million a year.
What about companies like Nike and Microsoft, two giant advertisers the present PBA group had been previously associated with? Are they possibilities? Miller, possibly the most the confident, self-assured person I have ever met, doesn’t rule out any possibilities.
Miller recalls a meeting two years ago as he addressed members of the media and industry. Many questions were asked and every one has been fulfilled—every single one. Some very good questions were asked such as, Can you get on ESPN?, Can you get your membership up?, Can you get your shows in arenas?, Can you get new sponsors? Without fail, every question has been accomplished.
Having said that, Miller gives the PBA only a “C” for its efforts. He believes they should have 15 or perhaps 20,000 fans at every arena finals. He believes the PBA should be performing in places like Detroit’s Cobo Hall or New York’s Madison Square Garden. Miller has no doubt it will come to that, confident that present arena crowds are just the tip of the iceberg.
Previously, I assumed anyone harboring these ambitions was suffering from illusions of grandeur. But, that was before I met Steve Miller. Now, I not only retract my original opinion, I have become a firm believer.
Having been around for over 40 years and agonized over the lack of support from newspaper editors and television programmers, I couldn’t help wonder how Miller expressed so much confidence in the future of bowling. How could he be so self-assured? He acknowledged his absence during the game’s slow erosion and understood my reservations concerning his faith and convictions. Now, due to the tremendous strides in the 2-1/2-year growth of the PBA, I have been thoroughly convinced.
His philosophy was rather simple. Following the PBA World’s Championship, he proceeded to hug everyone involved with the TV show; the PBA staff, the three ABC TV presidents, the TV crew, and all the sponsors on hand. Miller vows they will win the war, one person at a time and contends he will succeed with his philosophy: “Influence the influencers; meaning, you go out and try to influence people with influence. You don’t have to talk to a million people.”
Is this wishful thinking or perhaps a pipe dream? Not if you examine how far Miller’s organization has come. Walter Ray Williams Jr. collected $120,000 for the PBA World’s Championship, raising his season’s earnings to well over $400,000. Williams surpassed Mike Aulby’s previous record by over $100,000, but even more impressive, he accumulated this total in 20 events—10 less tournaments than Aulby did in his banner year. Miller further stated that within four or five years, $400,000 will rank about fifth or sixth on the yearly money list and, sooner than you think, a bowler will earn a million dollars or more in one season and further predicts there will be no limit.
Do I doubt Steve Miller’s predictions? I recall the immortal phrase and rallying cry by Tug McGraw, star reliever of the 1969 World Series champion New York Mets: “You gotta believe!”
And believe me, Steve Miller has made believers out of many former non-believers!