Bowling will be reinvented as an attractive business entity. Adi K Mishra, Founder and CEO of League Sports Co, explains why the project is vital for the future of sport as a whole.
DUBAI, UAE, Oct. 6, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Any sport that claims to have more than 150 million regular participants around the world has enormous potential.
Add to that a dash of celebrity stardom, impressive competition venues and a focus on digital engagement, and League Sports Co (LSC) has the recipe to transform the popular pastime of ten-pin bowling into a global giant.
League Sports Co, whose previous name was XTZ Esports Tech, announced last year that it had reached a 20-year agreement with the International Bowling Federation to drive innovation, growth and investment in the sport.
Primarily, this will involve the 2024 launch of the World Bowling League (WBL), which will aim to redefine the appeal of bowling through the WBL Pro Tour and WBL Global calendars for fans and competitors alike, as well as broadcasters, sponsors, agencies and bookmakers.
For LSC Founder and CEO Adi K Mishra, this is an unbeatable opportunity to introduce a unifying and engaging structure to a sport that already has passionate professional, semi-professional and grassroots participants.
The World Bowling League aims to expand the existing base and capture a mass audience through a Pro Tour and an "aspirational world-class product" that has innovation at its core, from the ambitious competition venues to the lane designs, balls and scoring, Mishra said. "At League Sports Co we have actively invested time and capital over the last 18 months to introduce much-needed changes and updates to all aspects of the sport," he added.
The launch of WBL Global represents the creation of a property that Mishra describes as an "aspirational product that bowling deserves" by elevating the sport to the status of a mass sport. With franchised teams in competition, cutting-edge technological solutions will be integrated, along with strategic elements such as reverse scoring and restricted releases, which will help create an engaged fan base.
With the WBL, last-minute talks are underway with famous names to become investors at the league level, with a couple of big-name global celebrities already closed and soon to be announced.
The WBL Global will offer between 12 and 15 events a year in emblematic locations in the United States, United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia, Dubai, India, Singapore, South Korea and Japan, among other nations, with the hope of expanding the calendar in the future. from three to five years. In the first season, between 8 and 12 franchise teams are expected to compete, each with a balanced roster of between four and six competitors.
Also worth noting is that at least two people on every four-person WBL team will be women, helping to underline the equality at the heart of a sport that is age-agnostic and gender-balanced.
The overall vision is designed to benefit the sport as a whole, as well as the wider industry such as venues, brands and manufacturers, reinforcing engagement with younger audiences and making bowling more sustainable.
In addition, the athletes themselves will benefit from unprecedented financial incentives within the sport. Collective WBL prize pools will reach $3-5 million in the first year, with hopes of reaching $10 million in the second, depending on growth.
Mishra and the LSC do not lack ambition. "Five years from now, I hope the WBL will turn bowling into a world-class aspirational product for both athletes and spectators," he said. "Athletes will compete for significant prize money, raising the commercial appeal and status of the sport. Financially, I predict the league will be highly profitable, supported by a global audience spanning multiple age groups and "The commercial side will be strong, driven by sponsorships, merchandising and media rights, and we are in preliminary discussions with cities around the world."
It's certainly a compelling story, not only because of the interest in the sport around the world, but also because of the way the WBL is investing in the future of bowling in general.
"We are seeing an expanding footprint [for bowling] in key markets such as Asia, the Middle East and Scandinavia, in addition to an already massive base in North and South America," Mishra added, underscoring a unique media and commercial growth opportunity that can support an exciting future for this sport. "Bowling is an accessible and family-friendly sport, but traditionally it has not been commercialized enough, even though the first athlete to achieve a million-dollar sponsorship was Don Carter, a legend of the sport. With the introduction of the bowling suite of products World Bowling League we intend to restore bowling's commercial appeal."
A full speech detailing the introduction of the WBL and its associated plans can be viewed here.
For more information on WBL, visit worldbowlingleague.org
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