Aussies on the 2023 PBA Tour

By Tenpin Bowling Australia
February 28, 2023

The 2023 Professional Bowling Association (PBA) tour is in full swing for 2023 with several Aussies taking on the world’s best bowlers.

As our Aussies embark on the new year, we have put together some information for those not familiar with the PBA Tour to help stay up to date on all the latest throughout the season.

What is the PBA?

The PBA was established in 1958 when 33 founding members banded together to form the Professional Bowlers Association. Today, the PBA remains the world’s preeminent organization dedicated to the sport of bowling and its professional competition. Fast forward more than four decades to March 2000 when three ambitious tech entrepreneurs—all former Microsoft executives and lifelong bowling fans—purchased the PBA in the hopes of expanding the league’s presence globally and creating new opportunities for its members and fans.

Nearly twenty years later, in September 2019, Bowlero Corp—the world’s largest owner and operator of bowling centers—purchased the PBA and established itself as the first media company in the sport, dedicated to growing and enhancing the PBA experience. Bowlero Corp has continued with all of the PBA’s scheduled tournaments and programming and has developed plans to build upon key PBA initiatives including its groundbreaking FOX Sports partnership. As part of the deal, Bowlero Corp will enhance PBA telecasts with new technology, deeper storytelling, and even more prize money as it seeks to bring its engaged community of fans even further into the fold.

Extracted from https://www.pba.com/about

Who are the Aussies competing in this year’s PBA?

There are currently three Australians competing in this year’s PBA Tour.

Jason Belmonte

Jason enters the 2023 season as the reigning player of the year after winning his record-tying seventh Player of the Year award.

The 39-year-old from Orange, New South Wales, enters 2023 after winning a career-high five times last season as well as eight top 5 finishes and thirteen top 10 finishes in 15 tournaments.

Belmonte won a silver medal at the 2023 World Cup on the Sunshine Coast in the individual competition and was also part of the bronze medal-winning men’s team in the team event.

What will Belmonte add to his incredible resume in 2023 that many consider the greatest of all time?

Sam Cooley

Sam has kicked off his 2023 campaign in style by winning the second stop on the tour – The PBA Springville Classic.

After winning his inaugural title in 2021 with the PBA Cheetah Championship at the World Series of Bowling XII, the Shellharbour, New South Wales bowler struggled to repeat his success in 2022 on the PBA tour.

His success would come following the season wearing the Australian uniform where he was on fire. Cooley became the first Australian since TBA hall of famer Chris Batson, to win a medal in the men’s singles event at The World Games. Winning gold, Sam’s achievement was Australia’s highest finish in any singles event at The World Games. A key member of the bronze medal men’s team at the IBF World Cup, Cooley also finished the year as the highest-ranked open bowler in the 2022 national rankings.

Now holder of two career PBA titles, and dubbed one of six potential breakout players for 2023 by PBA media, Sam could be on the verge of something special.

Jarrod Langford

After much success on the lanes in 2022, Queenslander Jarrod Langford is competing in his first PBA season in 2023.

Affectionately dubbed the ‘King in the North’ from his fellow bowlers, Langford, based in Burdekin, Northern Queensland, took out the inaugural Tenpin Premier League champion title after winning two of the three events from the first season. Langford was also a key member of the bronze medal-winning men’s team at the 2023 IBF World Cup.

As is the case with all rookies on tour, Langford will be striving to qualify for PBA main events mainly through the Pre-Tournament Qualifiers on tour and already made one main event at the PBA Springfield Classic.

When is it on?

The 2023 season kicked off with the US Open at the end of January where E.J Tackett was crowned champion before Sam Cooley added to his collection on the next stop at the PBA Springfield Classic.

The third stop was the PBA Wichita Classic that the young two-handed American Anthony Simonsen claimed.  

The 2023 Guaranteed Rate PBA Tour season features 16 title events, including five majors. The PBA will travel to 15 cities across 13 states in 2023.

The full schedule can be found by clicking here or under the Useful Tools and Links section. Please note that the schedule published on PBA.com is American-based, meaning Australia is one day ahead of the published schedule on pba.com.

Full PBA Tour Schedule Breakdown

Where to watch and stay up to date with the latest?

In late 2022, the PBA announced a new partnership for streaming their events with USBC’s BowlTV.

To watch the 2023 PBA action, Australian fans can access the streams on BowlTV either by paying for individual events or subscribing to a monthly subscription fee.

Subscription fees: (US dollars)

  • Monthly recurring subscription (plus 15% transaction fee and applicable taxes) – $12.95
  • Annually recurring subscription (plus 15% transaction fee and applicable taxes) – $119.95

Most events also will offer event tickets, a flat one-time fee ranging anywhere from $8.95 to $29.95 (plus transaction fees). An event ticket is a non-recurring charge where the subscriber will receive access to a specific event. Only monthly and annual subscribers receive access to all premium content.

BowlTV is jam-packed full of great content for lovers of bowling.

Head to https://www.bowltv.com/ to find out more and sign up for an account. Also, check out the USBC information page here – https://bowl.com/bowltv

All the latest news of the PBA Tour can be accessed on the official PBA website at https://www.pba.com/

Useful Tools and Links

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