Bowling Industry unites to keep Intercollegiate Team Championships on television in 2011

Industry partners have joined together to keep the United States Bowling Congress Intercollegiate Team Championships on television for the 10th consecutive year in 2011. The men's and women's finals of the event will air on ESPN2 on May 15 at 2 p.m. Eastern.

The USBC, Bowling Proprietors' Association of America, Professional Bowlers Association, Strike Ten Entertainment, The Bowling Foundation and the YES Fund are all contributing to broadcast college bowling's biggest event.

The YES Fund, a joint initiative of the BPAA and the USBC, is made possible by many of the leading brands in bowling including Brunswick, Columbia 300, Ebonite, 900 Global, Hammer, QubicaAMF, Roto Grip, Storm and Track.

The Intercollegiate Team Championships will feature 16 men's teams and 16 women's teams competing for collegiate national titles from April 21-23 in Columbus, Ga.

"This event is the crown jewel of college bowling, and I'm very excited the bowling industry was able to come together and keep the Intercollegiate Team Championships on television," International Bowling Campus Director of Youth Development Chad Murphy (pictured right) said.

I would like to personally thank Steve Johnson at BPAA, Stu Upson at USBC, Frank DeSocio at Strike Ten, Fred Schreyer of the PBA and, of course, our YES Fund partners for their efforts to make this a reality."

Dave LaMont will handle play-by-play duties with Team USA and PBA standout Chris Barnes providing color commentary for the televised finals, which will be taped on April 23 when the final two men's and two women's teams meet in their respective brackets.

The format will remain the same as past years with the first team to win two games in the Baker system format matches winning the title.

ESPN2 will provide two hours of coverage for the second consecutive year, bringing college bowling to 100 million homes across the United States. The event will be produced by the PBA for the first time.

Leading up to the finals, BOWL.com will provide free live streaming coverage of the event, including all qualifying and match-play rounds.

ESPN2 also will broadcast coverage of two other major events this year. The finals of the USBC Queens will be shown live on April 27 at 7 p.m. Eastern, while the championship round of Bowling's U.S. Women's Open will be taped for broadcast on July 2 at a time to be determined.

Bowling Industry showcased as a leader in providing unparalleled customer experience

Steve Johnson speaks at The Conference Board's annual Customer Experience Leadership Conference

The Bowling Proprietors' Association of America (BPAA), the non-profit trade association that serves as the voice of the bowling industry, has announced that Executive Director Steve Johnson was among the executives from world class brands to speak at The Conference Board's annual Customer Experience Leadership Conference.

Hosted at the Intercontinental The Barclay in Manhattan from March 23-24, the sold out event highlighted brands that serve as leaders in providing unparalleled experiences to their customers.

As part of a panel on "Implementing Customer Experience Strategies," Johnson addressed the evolution of the bowling industry that has helped drive four years of consecutive growth in the industry; securing bowling's ranking as the #1 participatory sport in the country.

During the prestigious two day event, the BPAA and Johnson were showcased among such leading brands as Ritz-Carlton, GE, Dow Jones, Victoria's Secret, Pitney Bowes, JD Power & Associates, 1-800-FLOWERS.COM and Celebrity Cruises, among others.

"There's no factor that has been more important in driving the growth and resurgence of bowling than our industry-wide focus on providing a great experience to our customers. From the 71 million people who bowl every year to the more than 4,000 operators who are members of the BPAA to the major global brands that sponsor bowling - it is the industry's ability to deliver a great experience to all of our stakeholders that has helped fuel our success," said Johnson (pictured right).

Added Johnson, "It is an honor to see our industry receive the recognition that it deserves from corporate America and to have bowling stand shoulder-to-shoulder with such iconic brands as Ritz-Carlton, Victoria's Secret, Southwest Airlines and 1-800-FLOWERS.COM. As any of the proprietors, customers or our corporate partners will tell you, there is just simply no customer experience that beats bowling."