The National Bowling League (NBL) is a defunct professional bowling league that existed from February 24, 1960 to July 9, 1962. The league was formed as an attempt to ride the popularity of bowling television shows, and also to challenge the Professional Bowlers Association (PBA).[1]
The league was the brainchild of Leonard "Len" Homel, who thought up the idea in 1959, but did not gain support until an article by Don Snyder in the January 1960 issue of Bowlers Journal. Unlike the PBA, bowlers in the NBL were members of teams that competed against squads from other cities, like the successful National Football League (NFL). A 135-match schedule was planned, five games a week, leading to the "World Series of Bowling".
League setup and home arenas
The NBL was officially founded on February 24–25, 1960, in Chicago. Initially, the league awarded "charter franchises" to Los Angeles, Fort Worth, San Antonio, Dallas, Chicago, Omaha and Raleigh, N.C., as well as "provisional franchises" to Fresno, Calif., Miami, New York, Cleveland and Houston. In a meeting in Dallas in May 1960, several other cities made presentations to join the league, including Detroit, San Francisco, St. Louis, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Atlanta and Salt Lake City. Several other cities (including Denver, Boston, Birmingham, Tucson/Phoenix and San Diego) were awarded 30-day options on franchises, with an eye to make the NBL a sixteen-team loop.
Ultimately, when the NBL began play in the fall of 1961, it featured ten teams in two divisions:
The minimum salary was $6,000, with some such as Buzz Fazio making upwards of $20,000, a payday that rivaled many top PBA bowlers; the entire league payroll set at $800,000.
For his part, PBA secretary Ed Elias did not consider the NBL a threat to his organization:
"At no time has the PBA ever opposed the idea of a National Bowling League. Having struggled through our early formative days, we knew full well the many problems that could arise for any such new organization. However, we were quick to welcome the idea of additional employment for the man who makes his living bowling. The National Bowling League offered just that, and if it had succeeded as originally planned, it would have meant additional income, prestige and recognition for the bowler himself, and added recognition for the bowling industry — something we are all seeking continually."[2]
First draft
On July 17, 1960 the NBL held its first draft, selecting Billy Welu first (Miami), and Don Carter second (Fort Worth). Later rounds selected major league baseball stars Mickey Mantle and Yogi Berra, who were both bowling alley owners. On September 5, 1960 Fred Riccillii became the first player to sign. The first name player to sign was Steve Nagy. Others included Buzz Fazio, Ed Lubanski, Billy Golembiewski, Joe Joseph, and Bob Hitt. Don Carter, probably the best-known bowler in the country at the time and already sponsored by Budweiser, turned down a $1,000 per week contract, half-interest in a goat farm, and a cut of the gate.[3]
Arenas and the lack of a TV contract
Bowling was popular on television at the time; NBC carried "Championship Bowling", while other local and national programs included "Make That Spare", "Bowling for Dollars", and "Celebrity Bowling." The NBL tried to place its matches on ABC, but that network also chose the PBA. (ABC televised PBA matches on the Saturday afternoon "Pro Bowlers Tour" from 1961–97; the program later aired on CBS and is now seen on FS1.)
Without a television contract, the NBL had to rely on a strong gate. Using mostly smaller arenas and converted theaters (Dallas and Detroit were the only teams that played in actual bowling alleys), the league created "arena style bowling", using four to six lanes with bleachers that held anywhere from 1,150 to 3,250 people; this setup is now used today in the PBA. Some had spotlighted lanes, scoreboards, semicircular-pattern seats, a press box, concessions stands, and dressing rooms. Kansas City's Midland and Omaha's Paramount were famous movie theaters that were transformed into NBL arenas.
Rules
There were two ways a player could earn points for his team: by winning his individual match (worth one point) and by making "bonus" points. A 210 score earned one bonus point, a 220 game two points, and so on, up to ten bonus points for a perfect 300 game. Matches were divided into two halves, with five players (leadoff, pressure, pivot, cleanup and anchor) from each team pitted against each other. The first half was played on a team-rotation basis, with opposing players competing on a head-to-head basis (leadoff vs. leadoff, etc.). The second half pitted player against player, each bowler bowling one complete game before his teammate bowls.
The NBL also featured a wild-card substitution rule. When a bowler was faced with a difficult shot, his captain could call in a specialist to roll for him. (The most common wild-card substitution was calling in a left-hander for a right-hander when a couple of pins on the right side of the alley needed to be knocked down for a critical spare.)[4]
The NBL's first match
The NBL's first match was New York at Dallas on October 12, 1961. The Dallas Broncos owner was oilman J. Curtis Sanford,[5] who had come up with the idea of football's Cotton Bowl in 1937. He poured millions into his team, building the Bronco Bowl, a 72-lane alley that was one of the largest bowling centers in the country at the time. The Broncos' home matches were located in a special section that featured six lanes and 18 rows of seats in a semicircle; there was even a seven-piece jazz band to entertain between games. Dallas won their opener 22-2, but the Broncos drew just 2,000 fans on opening night, well short of a sellout, and attendance got worse from there. (The lanes were eventually removed from the Bronco Bowl and it became a popular music venue for rock and roll acts including A-ha, Bob Dylan, U2, and Bruce Springsteen before closing in 2003.)[6]
Other teams also got off to less-than-promising starts. Jesse Weingart, a co-owner of the original New York team, had his franchise rights terminated in April 1961, and he threatened to sue the league.[7] The new owners, unable to find a home on top of Grand Central Station, wound up remodeling a movie theater in distant Totowa, New Jersey, about 20 miles from Manhattan; the Gladiators home opener on October 17 drew just 600 fans.[8] Meanwhile, the Los Angeles Toros built a new facility, Jefferson Street Arena, which could hold only 1,200 fans; even on opening night, they couldn't sell it out, drawing only 950 fans in a 22-9 loss to Fresno.[9] And when the San Antonio Cavaliers' top investor backed out, they wound up rolling all their matches on the road; their planned home (the Aztec Theatre) seated only 1,477, and was considered to be too small even for temporary use—even though the capacity was larger than any of the NBL teams would draw on average in 1961-62.
The NBL fails
The Omaha and San Antonio franchises each folded on December 17, 1961, while Kansas City dropped out six days later. When the LA Toros gave up the ghost on January 15, 1962, the league dropped the divisional setup and declared Detroit the "first half" champion; the league started the "second half" with the remaining six teams starting January 28. Fan interest remained low; even in Detroit, who led the NBL in attendance,[10] the Thunderbirds actually rolled a late-season match behind closed doors, rather than distribute free tickets.[11]
Twin Cities claimed the second-half title and faced Detroit in the best-of-five "NBL World Series" on May 4–6, 1962 in Allen Park, Michigan. The Thunderbirds swept the Skippers in three straight matches (winning the finale, 27-15 in front of about 1,000 spectators), and claimed the only National Bowling League title.[12] Don Bickford of Dallas finished with the best average score at 220.45, edging out Broncos teammate J. B. Solomon at 220.30; Dallas also had the highest average team score with 217.19.[13]
On May 9, 1962, acting commissioner Edward Tobolowski announced the NBL would return in 1963, later proposing a shortened 16-week season beginning in January. After suffering stiff financial losses, however, the league also wanted to eliminate player salaries and have bowlers roll for prize money (reportedly as much as $250,000) instead. NBL bowlers were unsurprisingly not fond of this idea; Ed Lubanski, captain of the champion Thunderbirds, said he believed most league players would return to the PBA even if the NBL returned.[14] On July 9, 1962, Tobolowski officially announced the end of the NBL.
The book Let's Go Bowling! claimed that "most bowlers hesitated to give up their status as part of the PBA to join (the NBL)."
Final standings
First half
Teams marked with (*) did not finish season.
Team
W
L
Pct
GB
Detroit
40
24
.625
--
Fresno
36
24
.600
2
Twin Cities
38
26
.594
2
Dallas
37
29
.561
4
Fort Worth
29
33
.468
10
New York
28
40
.412
14
Omaha*
22
20
.524
Kansas City*
17
25
.405
Los Angeles*
19
29
.396
San Antonio*
9
29
.237
Second half
Team
W
L
Pct
GB
Twin Cities
26
7
.788
--
Detroit
19
14
.576
7
Dallas
15
17
.469
10.5
New York
14
19
.424
12
Fort Worth
13
19
.406
12.5
Fresno
11
22
.333
15
Overall
Team
W
L
GP
Twin Cities Skippers x
64
33
97
Detroit Thunderbirds x
59
38
97
Dallas Broncos
52
46
98
Fresno Bombers
47
46
93
Fort Worth Panthers
42
52
94
New York Gladiators
42
59
101
Omaha Packers*
22
20
42
Los Angeles Toros*
19
29
48
Kansas City Stars*
17
25
42
San Antonio Cavaliers*
9
29
38
x - Advanced to NBL World Series
* - Folded mid-season
Related Research Articles
Ten-pin bowling is a type of bowling in which a bowler rolls a bowling ball down a wood or synthetic lane toward ten pins positioned evenly in four rows in an equilateral triangle. The objective is to knock down all ten pins on the first roll of the ball, or failing that, on the second roll. People approach modern ten-pin bowling as either a demanding precision sport or as a simple recreational pastime.
Norm Duke is an American professional bowler who previously competed on the Professional Bowlers Association (PBA) Tour and now competes on the PBA50 Tour. He has won 40 titles on the PBA Tour, including seven major championships, and another six titles on the PBA50 Tour. A member of both the PBA and USBC Halls of Fame, Duke is one of only three players in history to reach 40 career PBA Tour titles. He has bowled 73 perfect 300 games in PBA competition, including the 16th televised 300 game in PBA Tour history on January 5, 2003. Duke is a member of the Storm pro staff.
Richard Anthony Weber was an American professional ten-pin bowler and founding member of the Professional Bowlers Association (PBA). Along with Don Carter, Weber is widely regarded as professional bowling's first superstar. He is one of only eight players in history to accumulate at least 30 career PBA Tour titles, and was also the first player to reach that plateau.
A perfect game is the highest score possible in a game of bowling, achieved by scoring a strike with every throw. In bowling games that use 10 pins, such as ten-pin bowling, candlepin bowling, and duckpin bowling, the highest possible score is 300, achieved by bowling 12 strikes in a row in a traditional single game: one strike in each of the first nine frames, and three more in the tenth frame.
The PBA Tour is the major professional tour for ten-pin bowling, operated by the Professional Bowlers Association. Headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, over 3,000 members worldwide make up the PBA. While most of the PBA members are Regional professionals, a small percentage of the bowling membership competes at the national and international level, forming the PBA Tour. Founded in 1958, the PBA Tour has been in continuous operation since the inaugural 1959 season.
William Joseph Welu was an American professional bowler, executive for the Professional Bowlers Association (PBA), bowling broadcaster, and ambassador for the sport. A founding member of the PBA in 1958, he won four PBA titles, including two USBC Masters championships. He was only the second bowler in history to successfully defend a United States Bowling Congress Masters title, winning the event in 1964 and 1965 to join Dick Hoover (1956–57). The feat was not matched again until Jason Belmonte won back-to-back Masters titles in 2013–14.
The Professional Bowlers Tour, also known as Pro Bowlers Tour, is a broadcast of the Professional Bowlers Association that aired on ABC from 1962 to 1997. In the telecasts, sportscaster Chris Schenkel and the graphics displayed during the show would refer to the show as "The Professional Bowlers Tour", possibly to disambiguate from the NFL's use of the term "pro bowler" when referring to players who were selected for the Pro Bowl—an event also televised on ABC for many years.
The Professional Bowlers Association (PBA) is the major sanctioning body for the sport of professional ten-pin bowling in the United States. Headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, the PBA membership consists of over 3,000 members worldwide. Members include "pro shop" owners and workers, teaching professionals and bowlers who compete in the various events put on by the Association.
Donald James Carter was a right-handed American professional bowler. Born in St. Louis, Missouri, he learned the game while working a childhood job as a pinsetter, and went on to become one of the legends of ten-pin bowling and a founding member of the Professional Bowlers Association (PBA) in 1958.
Basil "Buzz" Fazio nicknamed the "Buzzer" was a pioneer and early American bowling star during the mid-20th century. Known equally for his fierce competitiveness and audience pleasing theatrics, Fazio's professional career spanned from the early 1940s to the late 1960s. The six-time ABC and two-time PBA champion began his career during bowling's golden era of "Team" play.
Elizabeth Ann Johnson is an American professional bowler. She first became known as an 11-time winner on the Professional Women's Bowling Association (PWBA) Tour, which included the first of her six U.S. Women's Open titles in 1996, before that organization suspended operations in 2003.
Richard A. Ritger was a right-handed ten-pin bowler in the Professional Bowlers Association (PBA), who spent his later years as a bowling instructor and proprietor of Dick Ritger's Bowling Camp. Known for his smooth stroker delivery, he is one of only 17 players in history to have won at least 20 career PBA Tour titles.
Carmen Salvino is an active professional ten-pin bowler, inventor, author, ambassador, and a founding member of the Professional Bowlers Association (PBA). Known as "PBA's Original Showman", Salvino won 17 PBA Tour titles –- among them the 1962 PBA National Championship where he defeated fellow bowling legend Don Carter in the finals. He also won two PBA Senior Tour titles, including the 1984 Senior National Championship. The right-handed bowler was among the eight original inductees to the PBA Hall of Fame in 1975, and is also a member of the USBC Hall of Fame, the National Italian American Sports Hall of Fame, the Illinois Sports Hall of Fame, and the Chicagoland Sports Hall of Fame.
The 1961 Philadelphia Eagles season was the franchise's twenty-ninth season in the National Football League.
Bowling is a target sport and recreational activity in which a player rolls a ball toward pins or another target. The term bowling usually refers to pin bowling, though in the United Kingdom and Commonwealth countries, bowling could also refer to target bowling, such as lawn bowls.
Bowling on CBS is the de facto title for CBS Sports' professional ten-pin bowling television coverage.
Harry Monroe Smith, nicknamed "Tiger", was a right-handed American ten-pin bowler and charter member of the Professional Bowlers Association (PBA). Smith won 12 PBA Tour titles, including two major championships. He is a member of the PBA and USBC Halls of Fame.
PBA Bowling is a 1995 bowling sports-based video game from Bethesda Softworks. A sequel, PBA Tour Bowling 2, was released in 2000.
Richard “Dick” Allen is a right-handed American professional ten-pin bowler and member of the Professional Bowlers Association (PBA). He competes in events on the PBA Tour and has competed internationally on the World Bowling Tour (WBT). Allen has seven PBA Tour titles and 19 PBA Regional Tour titles. He was known as Ritchie Allen on the PBA Tour until the 2010–11 season.
Donald McCune, originally from Munster, Indiana and now of Las Vegas, Nevada, is a retired American right-handed ten-pin bowler most known for his years in the Professional Bowlers Association (PBA). McCune won eight PBA Tour titles in his career. Six of his eight titles came in the 1973 season, during which he was credited with unwittingly initiating a major change in the sport of bowling. He is a member of the PBA and USBC Halls of Fame.
↑ Local newspaper coverage of the final series is difficult to come by; both Detroit daily papers as well as the two top newspapers in Minneapolis-St. Paul were all on strike and were not publishing at the time.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
