Rollhouse Entertainment, a Cleveland-area company, recently purchased Marian Lanes in Huber Heights for $2 million. The organization’s decision to move into the area sparked discussion on the business of bowling and where it’s going in the future.
Are bowling alleys seeing a lull in action as customers have many other entertainment options? The answer is not so black-and-white, according to bowling alley operators in the area.
“We mostly see families,” said Jerry Kessler, general manager at Thunderbowl Lanes in Englewood. “Most of the leagues are mom and pop ... we just do a lot of family business”
According to the the United States Bowling Congress, the organization’s membership has been on the decline , with a drop from 4.1 members to 1 million in three main league bowling organizations since the late 1990s. But USBA membership constitutes only a fraction of total people who chose to bowl. Poelking Entertainment Network President Joe Poelking said the activity of bowling remains very attractive.
“What we see now is more and more youth getting involved,” Poelking said. “We started high school bowling over 20 years ago and it’s really developed and grown.”
The Ohio High School Athletic Association added high school bowling as a sanctioned sport in the mid-2000s. In the 2023-24 school year, there will be 425 schools with boys bowling and 380 schools with girls bowling as a varsity sport in Ohio.
While Thunderbowl Lanes and Poelking Entertainment Network, which operates multiple facilities in the area, continue to market strictly bowling, other facilities in the region and nationwide have incorporated alternative attractions such as shuffle board, pin ball machines and corn hole to widen their reach.
Rick Borns, general manager at Rollhouse Dayton said the company will add new attractions to grow audience during its ownership transition.
Round 1 Bowling and Entertainment, located at the Mall at Fairfield Commons in Beavercreek, also incorporated new attractions such as billiards, karaoke, arcade games and more to attract wider audiences.
Round 1 general manager Eric Dison said recreational bowling is picking up, especially with college crowds. However, league play appears to thrive without them, he said.
“We’re still really strong with league bowling which is unusual nowadays. We still have about 1,000 league bowlers” Borns said.
Credit: JIM NOELKER
Credit: JIM NOELKER
Jumps in youth players have the United States Bowling Congress adding new tournaments to the youth division, said Ruth Heath-Trott, President of the Ohio State USBC.
Statistically, bowling membership has dropped since the late 1990s. However, business owners are continuing to find ways to grow.
“If there’s an opportunity and a desire, we want to put it into place. (Bowling) is not a dying sport, its a growing sport,” Poelking said.
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