"Bowling is at a crossroads today." as stated by Joe Schumacker in one of his published articles about the future of the bowling business. The bowling industry is now dealing with a new generation customer, called the Gen 3 bowler. How is Gen 3 bowling different than Gen 2 bowling?

Gen 2 bowling grew as bowling centers became neighborhood fixtures. League bowling dominated the bowling business and proprietors helped organize league development. Control of the operation of league bowling was vested in the league officers and directed by the rules, specifications and structure of the ABC and WIBC. Membership organizations continued to flourish until Americans began to lose their appetite for joining simply to belong in the early 1970s. The result was an interrupted decline in ABC and WIBC membership tracks, and league lineage as well.

By 2001, Open Play (also called Casual Play) exceeded league lineage and began to dominate the bowling business. Gen 3 bowling and its opportunities became noticeable.

The new generation of league bowler is vastly different from those of the prior generation. A Gen 3 bowler is much less willing to commit to bowl 30 or more weeks as a single season. Also, Gen 3 bowlers are not interested in a maze of rules and regulations. Gen 3 leagues do not have officers and do not want prize funds. They look at bowling as a fun diversion from the hectic and stressful nature of everyday life.

The primary customer was no longer the individual bowler but the proprietor. This created the need for a radically different approach than that for the Gen 2 based bowling associations. The Contemporary Bowling Association (CBA) was formed to provide the needed support structure. Together with Strike Ten Entertainment (STE) CBA would provide local marketing, bowler support, professional database support for individual proprietors and statistical modeling to allow the design of bowling products.

Gen 2 bowling has not been forgotten. The U.S.B.A., a single membership organization, has been approved by the ABC and WIBC in 2004 and will be given the opportunity to serve Gen 2 league bowlers.

The new Gen 3 support structure is still in its early stages, but its concepts and comprehensive service packages have already taken shape and convince proprietors all over the nation every day of its success in the future. For more information regarding Gen 3 bowling please read the articles from Joe Schumacker (see Latest News Link).