| 2026 PBA Tour season | |
|---|---|
| League | Professional Bowlers Association |
| Sport | Ten-pin bowling |
| Duration | February 16–TBD |
| PBA Tour | |
The 2026 PBA Tour season, the 67th season of play for the U.S. Professional Bowlers Association's ten-pin bowling tour, begins on February 16 with the pre-tournament qualifier (PTQ) for the PBA Players Championship. [1] The season currently includes 15 singles title events (ten standard, five major) and one doubles title event. Additional tour stops are to be announced.
After the end of the 2025 regular season came news that the PBA and Fox Broadcasting had terminated their television contract. On April 30, 2025, the PBA announced that The CW had acquired the television rights to air ten live PBA Tour final rounds on consecutive Sunday afternoons, beginning in February 2026. [2]
The PBA then announced on May 29 that all events of the 2026 and 2027 PBA World Series of Bowling will be covered on CBS stations. CBS Sports Network will have live coverage of four animal pattern events (including play-ins), while CBS terrestrial stations will host live coverage of the PBA World Championship finals. [3] CBS broadcasts will also be live streamed on Paramount+. The May 9–12 telecasts for the four animal pattern events of WSOB XVII will include the semifinal and final rounds of the PBA event, plus the final round of a concurrent PBA50 World Series of Bowling event (including the PBA50 World Championship on May 12), marking the first PBA50 Tour television broadcasts since 2009. [4]
The PBA Tour Finals, a postseason event which has aired on CBS Sports Network since the 2017 season, is being replaced with the PBA Norm Duke Open, in which eight finalists from qualifying will compete in five hours of live coverage. [4]
There are currently 18 telecasts totaling 55 hours over the 2026 PBA Tour season. The CW will air ten title events. CBS and CBS Sports will air six title events, plus two special non-title events (USA vs. The World and PBA Elite League Battle of the Brands).
As in 2025, the final rounds of all five major events will be broadcast live on over-the-air network television (four on CW network and one on CBS). These include the finals of the PBA Players Championship on February 22, the U.S. Open on March 8, the USBC Masters on March 29, the PBA Tournament of Champions on April 26, and the PBA World Championship (part of the five-event PBA World Series of Bowling XVII) on June 13. [4]
The announced events to be held during the 2026 PBA season are shown below. [1] [4] Additional events are TBA. Major tournaments are in bold. Career PBA title numbers for winners are shown in parentheses (#). Winner's share prize money is shown in US dollars ($), except where indicated. The number shown with oil pattern names is the oil length in feet.
Tour points are awarded for most events. Besides the season-ending Harry Smith PBA Points Winner award, points are one consideration for Player of the Year voting and some postseason events.
Sources for table below: [5] [4]
| Event | Airdate | City | Preliminary rounds | Final round | Oil pattern | Winner | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PBA Players Championship | Feb 22 CW | Euless, TX (qualifying & match play) Arlington, TX (finals) | Feb 17–20 (PTQ: Feb 16) | Live | PBA members-only event (Tier 1). PBA major. $100,000 top prize. | ||
| Legendz PBA Pete Weber Missouri Classic | Mar 1 CW | St. Peters, MO | Feb 25–27 (PTQ: Feb 24) | Live | Weber 45 | Open event (Tier 2). $30,000 top prize. | |
| U.S. Open | Mar 8 CW | Indianapolis, IN | Mar 3–7 (PTQ: Mar 1) | Live | Four custom patterns. Pattern 4 used for match play & finals. | Open event (Tier 1). PBA major. | |
| PBA Illinois Classic | Mar 15 CW | Decatur, IL | Mar 10–13 (PTQ: Mar 9) | Live | Open event (Tier 2). $30,000 top prize. | ||
| PBA Indiana Classic | Mar 22 CW | Fort Wayne, IN | Mar 18–20 (PTQ: Mar 17) | Live | Open event (Tier 2). $30,000 top prize. | ||
| USBC Masters | Mar 29 CW | Allen Park, MI | Mar 24–28 | Live | USBC Custom | Open event (Tier 1). PBA major. | |
| USA vs. The World | Apr 4 CBS+ | Columbus, OH | None | Live | Non-title event. The top US and international players of the last 25 seasons (E. J. Tackett and Jason Belmonte) draft and captain teams of five players. | ||
| PBA Ohio Classic | Apr 5 CW | Columbus, OH | Mar 31–Apr 2 (PTQ: Mar 30) | Live | Open event (Tier 2). $30,000 top prize. | ||
| PBA New York Classic | Apr 12 CW | Rochester, NY | Apr 7–10 (PTQ: Apr 6) | Live | Open event (Tier 2). $30,000 top prize. | ||
| PBA Roth-Holman Doubles Championship | Apr 19 CW | Portland, ME | Apr 15–17 | Live | Mark Roth 43 (left lane) Marshall Holman 38 (right lane) | Open event (Tier 3-limited field). $50,000 top prize (team). | |
| PBA Tournament of Champions | Apr 26 CW | Fairlawn, OH | Apr 22–24 (PTQ: Apr 21) | Live | Don Johnson 40 | Invitational event (Tier 1). PBA major. $100,000 top prize. | |
| PBA WSOB Animal Championship 1 | May 9 CBS Sports* | Greater Minneapolis | Apr 30–May 1, May 9 (WSOB PTQ: Apr 29) | Live | Open event (Tier 3-short format). | ||
| PBA WSOB Animal Championship 2 | May 10 CBS Sports* | Greater Minneapolis | May 2–3, May 10 (WSOB PTQ: Apr 29) | Live | Open event (Tier 3-short format). | ||
| PBA WSOB Animal Championship 3 | May 11 CBS Sports* | Greater Minneapolis | May 4–5, May 11 (WSOB PTQ: Apr 29) | Live | Open event (Tier 3-short format). | ||
| PBA WSOB Animal Championship 4 | May 12 CBS Sports* | Greater Minneapolis | May 6–7, May 12 (WSOB PTQ: Apr 29) | Live | Open event (Tier 3-short format). | ||
| PBA World Championship | Jun 13 CBS+ | Greater Minneapolis (qualifying) Allen Park, MI (match play & finals) | Apr 30–May 7, Jun 11–12 (WSOB PTQ: Apr 29) | Live | 4 animal patterns (qualifying) Earl Anthony 43 (match play & finals) | Open event for WSOB entrants (Tier 1). PBA major. | |
| PBA Elite League Battle of the Brands | June 20 CBS Sports | Bethlehem, PA | 2026 season singles events | Live | Non-title team event. Bowling ball manufacturer teams (Brunswick–4 teams, Storm–3 teams, and MOTIV–1 team) earn points during the 14 season singles events (through PBA World Championship) to determine seeding. | ||
| PBA Norm Duke Open | June 21 CBS Sports | Bethlehem, PA | Jun 15–19 | Live | Open event (Tier 2). Top eight from qualifying are seeded for quarterfinal round. Quarterfinals, semifinals and finals all televised. | ||