How Would You Like a Fresh Idea to Generate More Lines in Your League Programme and More Revenue Through Your Food, Beverage and Drinks Sales?

Interested?

Let me introduce you to 'brackets'. These are 3-game match-plays that can be played alongside your leagues (both handicap and scratch) and tournaments. When running, they will generate more lines for you as more league bowlers will be interested in playing in your centre's leagues. They will generate additional revenue from food, beverage, drinks, slots etc. sales for these extra bowlers, together with additional spectators. Let me explain how they work.

Let's assume a trios league of ten teams that plays three games once a week for 36 weeks of the year. On any given league night we would need to entice at least 8 bowlers that wanted to play in the brackets. Effectively, bowlers in the brackets are playing other players in their league at random on their league night.

You charge an agreed amount (pitched at whatever level you and your bowlers are comfortable with) for a bowler to enter a bracket. Prize money is returned (that night, and every league night - not the end of the season) to the bracket winner and the runner-up. Putting it another way, two wins are needed to cash.

The prize money comes from the entry fee per bracket per bowler. Let’s assume it costs £1 per bracket per bowler, and we have eight bowlers each going in one bracket. The total prize fund is £8, and this can be returned in a number of ways.

Run at 0% commission as a ‘value-add’ service to your bowlers. Your centre’s revenue will then increase as a result of more lines and food/drink sales as more bowlers and spectators get interested. The £1 brackets could pay: £6-1st & £2-2nd.

Run at n% commission. Not only will your centre’s revenue increase as a result of more lines and food/drink sales as more bowlers and spectators get interested, but the brackets themselves start to generate revenue.

At 12% commission the £1 brackets could pay: £5-1st & £2-2nd. Let's do some sums with a 12% commission rate. Ten teams of trios is 30 bowlers per week. Assume 50% start entering the brackets and go in, on average, £5 worth of £1 brackets per week. You will run 10 brackets per week, which will generate £10 commission per week, which translates into £360 per year.

Now, after a while, your other league secretaries get interested. Say you have 12 leagues a week, and 8 of those take up brackets, with more bowlers playing, and the weekly commission averages out at (15 [brackets] x 8 [leagues]) = £120 per week. Your leagues are now generating £4,320 in bracket commission a year, and this is WITHOUT your food, beverage, drinks, slots etc. increase - note that this assumes conservative take-up and growth rates.

What to do with the money? Well your centre's balance sheet could keep it, or you could use it for staff incentives (e.g., bonuses for the more brackets they run) or Christmas parties, or you could pro-rata it into the leagues' prize-funds, or you could run a special tournament in your centre and kick-in a big chunk of prize money, or, etc. etc...

If you have a youth bowling programme or YBC at your centre, brackets could be used as a fund raising vehicle. Maybe run them at 20 pence each? Before I hear you and the parents cry, "it's just illegal gambling", they are NOT, as they are skills based for the benefit of the bowlers themselves. It would give an added dimension to your YBC’s leagues and a chance for them to earn some extra pocket money.

Who would run all this? Well, you could use one of your staff, or get the league secretaries involved. In any case, this is where I come in. Our company specialises in software and consultancy for the ten-pin bowling industry, and we would be interested in selling you a Windows based bracket software package. Our 'Lite' software sells for £99 (US$150) and would be the ideal vehicle for getting you going. As you can quickly see from the aforementioned sums, it wouldn't take too long for the package to pay for itself.