Life, near death, and resurrection. Here’s how it went down, and the people who brought it back to life.
The Professional Bowlers Association tour draws excellent ratings during televised games and draws tons of in-person spectators as well. That has been a trend for decades, dating back to the 1960s and 1970s, when names like Dick Weber and Earl Anthony joined the tour.
The tour began broadcasting on ABC in 1961. The PBA tour would continue to grow in popularity through televised events over the next several decades as names like Walter Ray Williams Jr., Norm Duke, Wayne Webb, and Pete Weber (Dick’s son) all made big splashes on the tour.
However, things began to take a turn in the late 1990s. As television exploded, the number of sports available to viewers increased, and many people chose to watch something other than bowling. The ratings tanked, and in 1997, ABC ended its 36-year partnership with the PBA. Within a few years, the PBA would find itself on the verge of insolvency, with no sponsors and struggling TV ratings. This is where our story for this column begins.
In 2000, the PBA was purchased by Chris Peters, Rob Glaser, and Mike Slade, a group of former Microsoft executives, for $5 million. They moved the PBA headquarters to Seattle, Washington, and named former Nike Executive Steve Miller as its CEO.
The 2002-2003 PBA tour season was when these four men set out to save the PBA from going out of business forever. Miller believed that the two most important things for the league to survive were attracting sponsors and growing the audience. Many big names were returning for the tour season, including the previously mentioned Walter Ray, Duke, Webb, and Pete Weber. Miller encouraged the players on the tour to show their personality during events. He hoped this would allow the players to connect with the audience and keep them engaged and coming back for more.
Steve Miller, who passed away this year (photo courtesy DyeStat.com)
Some players struggled with that, while others, like Pete Weber, who had been doing that for years already, thrived with it. We’ve mentioned Pete Weber a couple of times, and that is for good reason. Not only is Weber an all-time great on the PBA tour, but he was instrumental in Miller’s plan to revive the league. His loud and brash style was what Miller wanted to help grow the PBA’s audience.
As a result, the loud-mouthed, crotch-chopping, sunglasses-wearing bowling champion did all sorts of media appearances to promote the tour, including television and radio interviews. Pete Weber also had a great season, making multiple televised appearances and even winning the PBA Tar Heel Open.
Finding sponsors was a big challenge for the league’s new ownership. But that proved to be an easy fix, as they secured several major brands as sponsors for the tour. Two of the big sponsor names that season were Pepsi and Wild Turkey Bourbon.
A third big name joined the mix, and it was truly an example of life imitating art. In 1996, the Farrelly Brothers released the bowling comedy film Kingpin. The film focuses on disgraced former professional bowler Roy Munson (played by Woody Harrelson) as he finds a bowling prospect from the local Amish community and coaches him to a big tournament in Reno, Nevada. In one of the early scenes, before Roy’s fall from grace, he wins a tournament to become the “1979 Oder Eaters Champion.”
In real life, there was no Odor Eaters tournament on the PBA tour. But Odor Eaters would finally partner with the PBA for the 2002-2003 season. Fans were given free samples of Odor Eaters products as they entered bowling centers to attend PBA events. Certain bowlers were even sponsored by the company, mainly Walter Ray Williams Jr. Walter Ray could be seen at events with the Odor Eaters logo on his bowling shirt and a custom bowling ball with the logo. Fans could also be seen with dual-sided paddles that had the Odor Eaters logo on one side and Walter Ray’s face on the other. But, it didn’t stop there, the PBA would also introduce the “Odor Eaters Open” to the tour schedule. Lonnie Waliczek won the event.
Walter Ray Williams Jr. (photo Sheboygan Press)
The season featured many exciting moments. Walter Ray Williams Jr. was named the season MVP after winning three tournaments that season, two of which were the U.S. Open and the PBA World Championship. His player of the year award that season tied him with Earl Anthony for the most all-time. Throughout the season, he won a staggering $419,700. This set an all-time single-season earnings record that would stand until Kyle Troupe broke it in 2021.
Elsewhere that season, Jason Couch made history when he won the PBA Tournament of Champions. This made him the second person to win the Tournament of Champions three times (Mike Durbin was the first), and the only player to win the TOC three years in a row. Another moment of note from the season came at the GEICO Earl Anthony Classic when Norm Duke rolled the 15th televised 300 game in PBA history.
The season was a success, and the PBA is still going strong today. While many of the players who dominated the season, like Walter Ray, Norm Duke, and Pete Weber, have moved on to the PBA 50 tour, the standard PBA tour continues to bring excitement to fans worldwide throughout the season.
These days, the tour is dominated by Jason Belmonte, Kyle Troupe, and E.J. Tackett. However, none of this would be possible without the efforts of Chris Peters, Rob Glaser, Mike Slade, and Steve Miller, who, with a lot of passion and effort, saved the PBA from being gone forever.
