Bowling Rolls In Its Version Of A Tiger

Bowling may have found its Tiger Woods. But even golf’s latest flash never reached perfection in three straight rounds.

That’s just what Jeremy Sonnenfeld did, rolling the first sanctioned 900 series - three straight 300 games.

What bowling officials and entrepreneurs see in Sonnenfeld is similar to what the PGA Tour has found in Woods: a young, energetic, well-spoken rallying point who just happens to be one terrific athlete.

“When Jeremy Sonnenfeld achieved that incredible 900 series, 36 straight strikes, he burst onto the international landscape,” says Steve Ryan, president and CEO of Strike Ten Entertainment Inc., the marketing firm for the bowling industry.

Strike Ten wants to give bowling a contemporary image. It’s already the most popular participation sport in the United States, with more than 52 million Americans taking part at least once annually.

“He can be a great spokesman for the game, and we hope to position him in the way Tiger Woods has served golf,” Ryan said. “We as Americans look for stars. It is a society issue that we have stars in athletics, religion, politics and the entertainment business.”

Not that Sonnenfeld feels like a star. A sophomore business major at the University of Nebraska, the 20-year-old native of Sioux Falls, S.D., is proud of the comparisons to Woods, who is rapidly becoming the best-known golfer in the world.

“Tiger’s stats are unprecedented,” Sonnenfeld says. “That’s definitely a challenge I welcome.

“But I wasn’t someone who just walked off the streets and rolled a 900. I had accomplishments in my life, and I hope I have many to come.”

Unlike Woods, who left Stanford after two years to join the PGA Tour and draw to the course fans whose closest previous contact with the sport might have been watching “Caddyshack” or playing putt-putt - Sonnenfeld plans to get his degree at Nebraska. He already has led the Cornhuskers to a national title.

“You never know where bowling will take you,” he says. “I’m engaged (to Jordan Leasure, who bowls for the University of Kansas), and getting that degree is very important to me. I’m not even thinking about the pro tour, because there is so much money available in different amateur tournaments, it might be a disadvantage for me right now to turn pro.”

The NCAA does not oversee collegiate bowling, so, Sonnenfeld says with a chuckle, “I can make as much money as I can.” That includes $30,000 he earned while bowling in a Las Vegas event last year.

Sonnenfeld understands marketing plans well enough to fit in perfectly with Strike Ten, which is attempting to get more major businesses involved in the sport.

“We have more participation than any sport,” Sonnenfeld says, “but we need more corporate sponsors. A golfer gets $300,000 or $400,000 for winning some tournaments. A top professional bowler is lucky to make that much in a lifetime.

“We’d like to get bowling into the everyday sports lineup, see something about bowling on the 6 o’clock news or ‘SportsCenter.’ It’s not something that will happen overnight, but maybe the 900 will set that off.”

Ryan certainly hopes so. Research shows the audience is there: Bowling is a $10 billion industry.

There are nearly 7,000 bowling centers in the country, which is a bigger presence than, say, Burger King or 7-11. More than 5 million respondents to a Roper-Starch survey last fall said they were avid bowlers, meaning they bowled at least 32 times a year.

“Clearly, bowling is a lifestyle sport and we are uniquely positioned to exploit the marketplace trends in leisure times,” says Ryan, a former marketing director for the NHL. “People want to spend time with friends and family and that clearly fits the reality of the bowling experience. People also want to do more with their leisure time and the social interaction of bowling makes that time spent more productively.

“There is low cost of entry, it’s highly appealing to families, and it’s open to all demographic types.”

Strike Ten seeks to recruit more recreational bowlers, then turn them into league bowlers. Ryan plans to do so with national advertising campaigns and promotions involving corporate America, plus regional and local promotions.

Strike Ten is looking at creating bowling center television networks, with satellite-delivered programming, similar to what CNN has done for airports and college campuses. Saturday morning programming for children at the bowling centers and evening shows for adults is planned.

“We want to take frequent bowlers and treat them special, because they are part of a very important affinity group for us,” Ryan says. “We want to make them feel more important with more programs, so that when you become a league bowler, there is real value added in that decision.”