In 1999, the Wall Street Journal got one fact wrong about Microsoft programmer Chris Peters. Three months later, three Microsoft retirees bought the Professional Bowlers Association for $5 million.
The PBA was running out of money. ABC Sports had walked away from the broadcast in 1997. Eddie Elias, the lawyer who founded the league in 1958, had died in 1998. Mark Gerberich, the commissioner, watched his organization sink toward bankruptcy with about $3 million in debt. Then he read a Wall Street Journal profile claiming Chris Peters wanted to become a professional bowler. He emailed Peters. Peters answered.
Peters reviewed the books and learned the PBA was on sale at bargain prices. He made one phone call — to Rob Glaser, founder and CEO of RealNetworks. The third partner, Mike Slade, joined within days. Slade had personally launched ESPN.com as Starwave’s CEO before Walt Disney bought the company. Five million dollars closed the deal. The Professional Bowlers Tour moved its corporate headquarters from Akron, Ohio to Seattle.
Slade negotiated a three-year exclusive ESPN broadcast contract that pushed the prize fund from $1.8 million to $4.3 million. Steve Miller from Nike took over as president. The league converted from nonprofit to private corporation and gave its players stock options — a precedent the Premier Lacrosse League would later claim as a first. Steve Bornstein, the ABC Sports executive who cancelled the bowling broadcast in 1997, joined the board. Nineteen years later, Bowlero — now Lucky Strike Entertainment Corporation — bought the PBA. The $5 million bet ended up owning a slice of a publicly traded company.
The Wall Street Journal article that started everything was wrong. Peters has addressed the error directly only once on the record.
Chapters
- 0:00 — The Wall Street Journal Got It Wrong
- 2:30 — Eddie Elias and the ABC Cancellation
- 4:30 — Mark Gerberich Emails Chris Peters
- 6:30 — Three Microsoft Retirees Buy a Sport
- 9:00 — The ESPN Deal and Steve Bornstein
- 11:30 — Bowlero Buys the PBA and Goes Public
Sources
- Seattle Times / Pacific Northwest Magazine, Richard Seven (Feb 2001)
- Associated Press wire on ESPN.com (March 22, 2000)
- Bowlers Journal International (Keith Hamilton)
- A League of Ordinary Gentlemen (2006 documentary)
- Mike Slade 2020 PBA Hall of Fame induction speech
- Wikipedia — Professional Bowlers Association
- Wikipedia — Eddie Elias
- Wikipedia — Lucky Strike Entertainment Corporation