Bayside Bowl in Portland increasingly has attracted customers to its quaint 12-lane facility since opening in 2010. And now the world’s best male bowlers, along with the ESPN cameras, are paying a visit.
The PBA Maine Event runs from Thursday through Tuesday with two competitions at Bayside. It’s the first time the Professional Bowlers Association has held an event in Maine.
PBA Maine Event in Portland
Thursday: Bayside Baker Pro-Am
Saturday: PBA Elias Cup quarterfinals
Sunday: PBA Elias Cup semifinals & finals
Monday & Tuesday: PBA Maine Shootout
For details: baysidebowl.com/events/
TELEVISION SCHEDULE
The broadcast schedule for ESPN’s televised coverage of the PBA Elias Cup at Bayside Bowl in Portland:
Sunday: 5-7 p.m.
April 5: 3:30 to 5:30 p.m.
April 12: 2-4 p.m.
April 19: 1-3 p.m.
“We’re hoping everybody loves it so much that we’ll come back next year,” said the PBA commissioner, Tom Clark.
The main attraction is a team event that features the PBA’s top 40 bowlers divided into eight squads. Called the PBA League Elias Cup, the event will be tape-delayed by ESPN and televised over four consecutive Sundays, beginning this Sunday at 5 p.m.
The bowlers include PBA Hall of Famer Pete Weber and previous PBA champions Sean Rash, Chris Barnes and Jason Belmonte, a two-handed bowler from Australia who has won the past two PBA Player of the Year awards.
None of the PBA’s top 40 are from New England, and the region is not exactly considered a hotbed for 10-pin bowling.
“Having (the PBA) here, we’re certainly hoping (the sport) grows,” said the Bayside co-owner, Charlie Mitchell.
So why did PBA choose Portland?
Although headquartered in Seattle, the PBA partnered in 2012 with Portland-based Shamrock Sports and Entertainment to handle its marketing.
“I would come to Maine a couple times of year to have meetings,” Clark said. “I really like it here. We started talking and said, ‘What if we brought the PBA Tour here?’ ”
With only 200 seats for spectators, the Elias Cup is already sold out, Mitchell said.
“Normally a PBA event would never be able to be held there because it’s too small,” Clark said. “But because it’s a team event – every ball we throw over the weekend is on TV – you really only need two lanes to contest this. So we’re coming in and turning it into an arena to hold the playoffs, one team versus another.”
This marks the third year for the Elias Cup, which begins with a pro-am Thursday, then all-day practice sessions Friday. The matches will be held Saturday (quarterfinals) and Sunday (semifinals and final). The purse is $250,000, with the winning team splitting $50,000. The championship match is set for 3:30 p.m. Sunday.
Mitchell thinks the team tournament will draw interest.
“Games move quickly and it’s an all-star field,” he said.
Each bowler on a team rolls two frames in a game (first and sixth frames, second and seventh, etc.). Teams compete in two games against each other. If they tie, there is a one-roll playoff between the two teams.
The second event is an individual PBA tournament – the Xtra Frame Shootout – on Monday and Tuesday. It will be broadcast on the PBA’s pay-per-view network. For the Shootout, there will be even less seating because more of the lanes are being used. Admission is free but visibility could be limited.
The Shootout features the top 40 PBA bowlers with 24 other entrants, at least nine from Maine.
“It’s going to be exciting to see some of our best against the best of the world,” Mitchell said.
The draw for the Shootout takes place Sunday night with competition beginning Monday. The format will be a best-of-three single single-elimination.
The Maine bowlers include Steve Babb (Augusta), Richard Campbell (Phippsburg), Jimmy Clark (Topsham), Joseph Colcord (Portland), Tony Fernandez (Gorham), Scott Moore (Lewiston), Terry Robinson (Gray), Justin Rollins (Sidney) and Aaron Thiboutot (Brunswick).
The Shootout championship match is set for 7:30 p.m. Tuesday. The purse is $53,000, with the winner collecting $10,000.
“What I hope Maine gets out of this is some great exposure nationally,” Clark said. “You don’t normally see national sports events emanating from Maine.”
Staff Writer Glenn Jordan contributed to this report.
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