| 2024 PBA Tour season | |
|---|---|
| League | Professional Bowlers Association |
| Sport | Ten-pin bowling |
| Duration | January 9–TBD |
| PBA Tour | |
The 2024 PBA Tour season, the 65th season of play for the U.S. Professional Bowlers Association's ten-pin bowling tour, began on January 9 with the pre-tournament qualifier (PTQ) of the PBA Players Championship.[1] The season currently includes 16 singles title events, two doubles title events, and a non-title team event.
On November 1, 2023, the PBA and Fox announced that the 2024 season will have over 60 hours of live coverage on Fox and FS1 networks. Multiple standard title events move to FS1 from previous streaming-only broadcasts, and Fox terrestrial stations will have eight broadcasts, the most since Fox acquired PBA broadcast rights in 2019.[2]
Season overview
As in 2023, the final rounds of all five major events will be broadcast live on over-the-air network television (Fox network). This includes the finals of the PBA Players Championship on January 15, the U.S. Open on February 4, the USBC Masters on March 31, the PBA World Championship on April 21 (part of the five-event PBA World Series of Bowling XV in Allen Park, Michigan), and the PBA Tournament of Champions on April 28. All five majors will pay out a $100,000 top prize.
From February 5 to March 3, there are four “classic series” events which each award a standard title. The final round of these events will be broadcast on FS1.[1] The 2024 season will also see the return of the PBA Playoffs, which was last hosted in 2022.[2]
The PBA League Elias Cup team competition returns with a revised format, and the new moniker "PBA Elite League". While the quarterfinals, semifinals and finals broadcasts on FS1 remain in September, as in 2023, there will be season-long qualifying events at the first 14 PBA Tour stops. The league is reduced to eight teams of six players (from ten teams of five players previously), and head-to-head Baker matches throughout the season will reduce the field to six teams prior to the September 15 quarterfinals.[3]
Tournament summary
The events currently scheduled for the 2024 PBA season are shown below.[1] Major tournaments are in bold. Career PBA title numbers for winners are shown in parentheses (#). Winner's share prize money is shown in US dollars ($), except where indicated.
Tour points are awarded for most events. Besides the season-ending Harry Smith PBA Points Winner award, points are one consideration for Player of the Year voting and also affect eligibility and seeding for the PBA Playoffs (2024 points only) and PBA Tour Finals (with 2023 points).
- Tier 3: PBA short format or limited field tournaments (2500 points for first, and descending thereafter)
- Tier 2: PBA standard tournaments with a fully open field (double the points of Tier 3 events)
- Tier 1: PBA major tournaments (triple the points of Tier 3 events)
| Event | Airdate | City | Preliminary rounds | Final round | Oil pattern | Winner | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PBA Players Championship | Jan 15 Fox | Wichita, KS | Jan 10–13 (PTQ: Jan 9) |
Live | Wayne Webb 38 |  Bill O'Neill, USA (14) |
Members-only event* (Tier 1). PBA major. $100,000 top prize. |
| U.S. Open | Feb 4 Fox | Indianapolis, IN | Jan 29–Feb 2 (PTQ: Jan 27) |
Live | Four custom patterns | Open event (Tier 1). PBA major. $100,000 top prize. | |
| PBA Illinois Classic | Feb 10 FS1 | Mount Prospect, IL | Feb 6–8 (PTQ: Feb 5) |
Live | Don Carter 39 | Open event (Tier 2). $25,000 top prize. | |
| PBA Missouri Classic | Feb 18 FS1 | Springfield, MO | Feb 14–16 (PTQ: Feb 13) |
Live | Dragon 46 | Open event (Tier 2). $25,000 top prize. | |
| PBA Indiana Classic | Feb 24 FS1 | Anderson, IN | Feb 20–22 (PTQ: Feb 19) |
Live | Viper 37 | Open event (Tier 2). $25,000 top prize. | |
| PBA Delaware Classic | Mar 3 FS1 | Middletown, DE | Feb 28–Mar 1 (PTQ: Feb 27) |
Live | Billy Hardwick 44 | Open event (Tier 2). $25,000 top prize. | |
| PBA All-Star Weekend | Mar 15–16 FS1 Mar 17 Fox |
TBA | N/A | Mar 17 | TBA | Special non-title event featuring current PBA stars, PBA legends, rookies and celebrities. | |
| USBC Masters | Mar 31 Fox | Las Vegas, NV | Mar 25–29 | Live | USBC Custom | Open event (Tier 1). PBA major. $100,000 top prize. | |
| PBA WSOB XV Roth-Holman Doubles Championship | Apr 14 FS1 | Allen Park, MI | Apr 4–5 (PTQ: Apr 2) |
Apr 6 (taped) | Mark Roth 42 & Marshall Holman 38 | Open event (Tier 3-limited field). $30,000 top prize (team). | |
| PBA WSOB XV Cheetah Championship | Apr 15 FS1 | Allen Park, MI | Apr 8–9 (WSOB PTQ: Apr 6) |
Live | Cheetah 36 | Open event (Tier 3-short format). $20,000 top prize. | |
| PBA WSOB XV Scorpion Championship | Apr 16 FS1 | Allen Park, MI | Apr 10–11 (WSOB PTQ: Apr 6) |
Live | Scorpion 42 | Open event (Tier 3-short format). $20,000 top prize. | |
| PBA WSOB XV Shark Championship | Apr 17 FS1 | Allen Park, MI | Apr 12–13 (WSOB PTQ: Apr 6) |
Live | Shark 48 | Open event (Tier 3-short format). $20,000 top prize. | |
| PBA World Championship | Apr 20 (seeds 5 thru 9 play-in round) FS1 Apr 21 (finals) Fox |
Allen Park, MI | Apr 8–13, 18 (WSOB PTQ: Apr 6) |
Live | Qualifying: Cheetah 36, Scorpion 42, Shark 48 Match play & finals: Earl Anthony 43 |
PBA members & qualifying collegiate players via PTQ (Tier 1). PBA major. 16 top qualifiers from animal pattern events advance to match play on April 18. Top four after match play automatically seeded for finals. April 20 stepladder (5-9 seeds) determines fifth seed for finals. $100,000 top prize. | |
| PBA Tournament of Champions | Apr 28 Fox | Fairlawn, OH | Apr 23–25 (PTQ: Apr 22) |
Live | Don Johnson 40 | Invitational event (Tier 1). PBA major. $100,000 top prize. | |
| PBA Playoffs | May 19 Fox | Kissimmee, FL | May 18 | Live | Mike Aulby 39 & Dick Weber 45 | Starting field: top 16 in 2024 Tour points through April 28. $75,000 top prize. | |
| PBA Tour Finals | June-TBD CBS Sports | Bethlehem, PA | June-TBD | Live | Marshall Holman 38 & Johnny Petraglia 46 | Starting field: top eight points earners since start of 2023 season. $30,000 top prize. | |
| PBA-PWBA Striking Against Breast Cancer Mixed Doubles (a.k.a. The Luci) | Jul 28 BowlTV | Houston, TX | Jul 26–28 | Live | Custom Kegel pattern | PBA and PWBA title event. Top prize TBD. | |
| PBA Jonesboro Open | Aug 2 BowlTV |
Jonesboro, AR | Jul 31–Aug 1 | Live | TBD | Open event (Tier 3-short format). Top prize TBD. | |
| PBA-WBT Storm Lucky Larsen Masters | N/A | Helsingborg, Sweden | Aug 31–Sep 7 | Sep 8 | Not reported | PBA and WBT title event (Tier 3–limited field). Top prize TBD. | |
| PBA Elite League Elias Cup | Quarterfinal play-in: Sep 15 FS1 Quarterfinals & Semifinals: Sep 16 FS1 Elias Cup Finals: Sep 17 FS1 |
Portland, ME | Seeding based on Baker matches held concurrently with first 14 events of 2024 PBA season | Live | Mark Roth 42 | Non-title team event. Eight-team starting field, reduced to six for Sep 15 play-in round. Top prize: $100,000 to winning team. |
- *Four non-member players from Wichita State University were granted Commissioner's exemptions.
References
- 1 2 3 "2024 PBA TOUR SCHEDULE". pba.com. Retrieved November 29, 2023.
- 1 2 "PROFESSIONAL BOWLERS ASSOCIATION TO "GO BOWLING ACROSS AMERICA" WITH 2024 PBA ON FOX SCHEDULE". pba.com. November 1, 2023. Retrieved November 29, 2023.
- ↑ Hughes, Nolan (November 22, 2023). "EXPANDED PBA LEAGUE SEASON COMING IN 2024". pba.com. Retrieved November 29, 2023.