On August 1, 2019, the United States Bowling Congress killed the only rule protecting bowling's competitive integrity. Forty-two days later, Bowlero bought the Professional Bowlers Association. Neither has ever explained the timing.
The United States Bowling Congress built that rule in 1991 to control scoring pace — less lane steering, less scoring assistance. When Glenn Allison bowled three consecutive perfect games at La Habra 300 Bowl in 1982, the USBC's predecessor denied the series because the lanes were too easy. That was the standard. By 2019, the same body that enforced it had suspended it.
The path that connects these events runs through the International Bowling Campus in Arlington, Texas, where the USBC shares offices with the Bowling Proprietors Association of America — the trade body that includes Bowlero as a member. The man who runs the USBC spent nine years working for a bowling ball manufacturer before regulating bowling balls. The rule that controlled lane conditions was suspended 42 days before the alley operator bought the league.
The two events sit on the public record. They've never been joined.
Chapters
- 0:00 — The Award the USBC Demoted Itself
- 0:43 — When a 300 Was the Rarest Thing in Bowling
- 3:27 — The Only Rule Protecting the Game
- 4:29 — Glenn Allison and the Nine Hundred They Denied
- 5:41 — Reactive Resin Changed Everything
- 7:53 — The Man Who Came From the Industry He Regulates
- 9:37 — August 1, 2019: The Rule Dies
- 11:55 — September 10, 2019: Bowlero Buys the PBA
- 15:41 — The People Inside Were Talking
- 19:45 — Glenn Allison
Sources
- Jeff Richgels, 11thFrame.com — USBC investigation
- Bowlero Corporation acquires PBA (FloBowling, Sept. 10, 2019)
- Glenn Allison — Wikipedia
- Private Equity-Backed Firm Bowlero Is Ruining Bowling (Jacobin, 2024)
- USBC official