PBA, FOX Sports Announce Historic Television Schedule for 2019

Go Bowling! PBA Tour to Include New PBA Playoffs, 19 Live Telecasts, Four Majors and More

CHICAGO and LOS ANGELES – A new era in the Professional Bowlers Association (PBA) is set to begin as FOX Sports and the PBA announced its 2019 Go Bowling! PBA Tour television schedule today, featuring 30 telecasts and including a new PBA Playoffs series.

The robust multi-platform PBA-FOX Sports agreement, announced in March, features five telecasts on FOX and 26 on FS1. The 2019 TV schedule, which begins Sunday, Jan. 6 on FS1 with the Hall of Fame Classic in Arlington, Texas, includes 60 hours of coverage, nearly double last year’s schedule and the most in decades. Nineteen of the telecasts are live, the most in 11 years. Four 2019 events airing on FOX marks the most PBA action on network broadcast TV since 1999.

The announcement was made today by PBA CEO and Commissioner, Tom Clark and FOX Sports’ EVP of Programming, Live Operations and Research, Bill Wanger.

Kicking off the new PBA on FOX partnership will be a bonus event, PBA Clash, on Sunday, Dec. 23 on FOX. The 90-minute telecast will feature top PBA stars in a unique competition, plus a look at the new year and upcoming events on FOX and FS1.

The new PBA Playoffs is a 10-telecast event that will seed the top 24 players after the first 13 PBA on FOX events of the 2019 season into an elimination bracket. All PBA Playoffs matches will be televised from Bayside Bowl in Portland, Maine, from the live first Round of 24 matches on Monday night, April 8 on FS1, through to the live semifinals and finals on FOX, Saturday and Sunday, June 1-2. The PBA Playoffs champion will win a $100,000 first prize.

Other highlights of the 2019 PBA on FOX Sports schedule include:

• Live coverage of four PBA major championships: the PBA Tournament of Champions on Sunday, Feb. 10, from suburban Akron, Ohio; the PBA Players Championship on Sunday, Feb. 17, from Columbus, Ohio; the PBA World Championship on Thursday, March 21, from Allen Park, Mich., and the United States Bowling Congress Masters on Monday, April 1, from Las Vegas.
• Revolutionary coverage of professional bowling’s biggest event, PBA World Series of Bowling X. Five consecutive nights of prime-time WSOB coverage, including live finals of four PBA title events, will air from Allen Park, Mich., March 18-22.
• The PBA League team competition returns, for the first time all live on TV. Back in Portland, Maine, the PBA League will conclude the 2019 PBA-FOX Sports schedule with four live prime time telecasts on FS1 for three consecutive nights, July 16-18.
• The CP3 PBA Celebrity Invitational returns and moves for the first time to network TV as FOX airs the event on Super Bowl Sunday at 2:00 PM ET.

In addition to the 60 hours of broadcast television, FOX Sports digital also will play a key role in expanding the PBA’s visibility.

Additional details concerning tournament formats, host bowling centers and more, will be announced by the PBA soon through the PBA Network’s social media outlets.

2019 PBA-FOX SPORTS GO BOWLING! PBA TOUR SCHEDULE (All Times Eastern)