History
The first edition of the competition was held in November, 2013 under the name Australian Premier League. The inaugural clubs were Adelaide Endurance, Brisbane Gold, Melbourne Roys, New Zealand Blackjacks, Perth Suns and Sydney Lions, with Brisbane winning the first title. [1]
Two further teams – the Murray Steamers and the Gold Coast Hawks – joined the competition in 2014 to expand the competition to eight. The Murray Steamers defeated Adelaide Endurance in the final of the 2014 competition to be champions for the second running of the event.
In 2016, Bowls Australia announced there would be two tournaments held per year starting from 2017, with one event staged in Auckland in addition to the traditional event at Club Pine Rivers in Brisbane, Queensland. [2] The competition also underwent a name change to reflect the inclusion of the New Zealand leg, renaming to Bowls Premier League.
The Australian leg of the BPL has always been held in November while the first edition of the New Zealand event was held in March.
Adelaide Endurance were replaced by Illawarra Gorillas in 2017. [3]
BPL10 in 2019 marked a significant shift in the competition, as three teams - Gold Coast Hawks, Illawarra Gorillas and New Zealand Blackjacks - did not renew their licence. This opened the door to three new teams - Adelaide Pioneers, Melbourne Pulse and Tweed Heads Ospreys. [4] [5]
In February 2020, Moama Bowling Club hosted the first BPL outside of Brisbane and New Zealand, with the New Zealand version of the event heading to the Victoria-NSW border town until at least 2022. [6]
BPL12, planned to be hosted by Club Pine Rivers in November 2020, was postponed due to COVID. Moama eventually hosted the event in February 2021, with Club Pine Rivers hosting BPL13 and BPL14 later the same year.
BPL14 was later moved to Moama and played in February 2022. The league expanded to 10 teams, dropping the Melbourne Roys and adding the Tasmania Tridents, Melbourne eXtreme and Gold Coast Hawks. The Murray Steamers changed their name to the Moama Steamers. [7]
The event's exponential growth continued in November 2024, with Geelong Jets and Sydney Saints expanding the competition to 12 teams.
Event structure
Originally, BPL competitions began on a Thursday and ended on Sunday. That was eventually changed, with competitions beginning on a Tuesday, then a Monday, and ending on a Friday evening.
Each BPL competition runs over the course of five days at one venue in a double round-robin and finals (playoffs) system; this makes for a total of 22 rounds consisting of six matches in each round.
The first New Zealand edition of the competition in March, 2017 had its event held from Monday through to Thursday.
All five matches in the final round of each day, as well as the BPL Cup Final are televised on Fox Sports in Australia and Sky Sport in New Zealand, as well as through digital streaming platform Kayo. Bowls Australia also livestream round robin matches during the day via Facebook and YouTube, using their popular Rinkside Live service.
Each match consists of a two five-end sets, with a one-end tie-break played if required. The game format is pairs, with three bowls for each player per end. A team coach also has a substitute player at their disposal which must be used during the game, but only immediately preceding the delivery of a bowl by their team player. Every player in the team, including the sub, must bowl at least 12 bowls per game (previously nine, changed for BPL20). The team with that wins both sets, or one set and then the tie-break, is the winner.
Instead of spending time rolling the jack, as per normal competitions, the players place the mat and advise the marker the length of the jack they would like to play to. Players have a 30-second shot clock in which they must deliver their bowl from the time the jack is placed at the start of an end or once their opposition bowl has come to a rest. Teams can nominate one Power Play end per set, enabling teams to earn double the shots scored in that end.
Finals system
Each team plays each other twice during the competition. At the end of the double round-robin, the top five teams in the standings play off in the finals series.
If teams on the ladder are equal on points they will be split on net total shots (shots for minus shots against).
The finals series includes straight eliminations and double-chance matches. It is similar to a four-team Page playoff system tournament, but with the addition of an elimination round between fourth and fifth place to move on to the standard Page bracket.
Finals Series Format| Match | Teams | Notes |
|---|
| Elimination Final 1 | 4th place team vs 5th place team | Winning team advances to Elimination Final 2. Losing team is eliminated. |
| Elimination Final 2 | 3rd place team vs Winner of Elimination Final 1 | Winning team advances to Preliminary Final. Losing team is eliminated. |
| Semi Final | 1st place team vs 2nd place team | Winning team advances to the Grand Final. Losing team advances to the Preliminary Final. |
| Preliminary Final | Winner of Elimination Final 2 vs Loser of Semi Final | Winning team advances to the Grand Final. Losing team is eliminated. |
| Grand Final | Winner of Semi Final vs Winner of Preliminary Final | Winner is the Event Champion. |
Prizemoney
The BPL competition carries more than $100,000 in prize-money, with the winning franchise collecting $28,000.
