Big facts!!! One of my home alleys (there’s three near me), have sixty four lanes!!!!! One of the centers is bolero, the another one is AMF. The one I’m talking about is independently owned. the AMF centers have 32 lanes and the Bolero one have 64 (just like the local one). Here’s the difference, the local one separate league bowlers from casual bowlers. One side of the house is well lit and there’s no music, while the other side be dark and loud. They even keep those lanes more oil compared to the non league bowlers side. Everytime I go to bolero I have to deal with kids running all on the lane and adults standing at the ball return. You can’t see the arrows and the music be so loud. I don’t care about arcade games, I want to bowl. I want to have some drinks and bowl. I hate them so bad that I actually pass bolero to go to my local one. Bolero is a ten minute drive, while the other one is a twenty minute drive. I hate bolero with a passion
I drive forty minutes everyweek just to bowl league at a Spare Time house. Family owned and operated. They actually take pride into the care of their house. Always clean, lanes are in great shape and up to date pinsetters. Our hometowns Bowlero is filthy, pinsetters are dated, cracked pins everywhere, approaches are in rough shape, oil machine constantly breaks down. They only care about open bowling. I will never bowl there again.
I'm going to my league at a Bowlero this evening. Best league I have ever been on in 45 years. We have 40 teams and use every alley. Super competitive, most everyone averages in the 200s. First place is $20k. Beers are $8, luckily I don't drink when I bowl.
They just bought a center I bowl at it seems like they actually improved everything. Although it’s only been a few months. I guess I’ll see what happens in the long run
Have never bowled at a Bowlero center, but any company that is "expanding" to water parks and arcades/entertainment centers is NOT putting money back into their bowling centers. That's not how business works. They are doing the opposite. Using the money from their bowling centers to help fund the growth of the other business ventures. Bowlero will most likely drain the bowling centers of whatever they can while building these other businesses and then sell the original centers off to someone else, either a single company or back to smaller owners.
It’s time that this corporation comes to an end. Some of my bowling alleys that I grew up at were bought out by them. It’s time that we make every Bowling Alley independent again.
Hope they don't screw up the other entertainment places like they did bowling. They are only in it for $$$. Took over one of our bowling centers and pushed out the leagues. Only open bowl now. Last year they went string pins. The only good Bowlero centers are the ones the PBA bowls in. They don't keep the lanes up on the others. They also still have several lawsuits pending for age discrimination. Maybe that is why they need the $$$.
I warned yall this would happen!!! Bowling will die sooner then I thought!!! When one company owns EVERYTHING, all it takes is one change, and the entire sport is done!!!!!
Sadly but truly bowling hasn’t been the same in the past 10 or so years as far as rules changing and most importantly Bowlero steady buying bowling centers and turning them into entertainment centers. I respect and understand it but when it comes to caring more for open bowlers vs league bowlers, I definitely feel like something is wrong with that TBH. I understand it from a business perspective though.
Yet another step away from bowling and more distractions. Lots of flash and lots of cash and people who want to bowl can expect higher prices. I don't like the distracting screens, the lights so low you can't even see the arrows, the blaring video music... I just want to pay attention to my bowling. In our area, Bowlero has bought up all the bowling centers creating a monopoly and skyrocketing prices. A per game cost of $8 - $10 a game is the norm now and I am sure it will go up with this new focus on "entertainment'. I don't want to be "entertained", I just want to bowl.
Feel like they should have maintained the Bowlero brand for bowling and just put it under a larger corporate entity for entertainment in general. Lucky strikes is also an odd name and is associated with cigarettes.
Excellent, now they can raise the price of a game to an even $7.50 and I hear that if you don't have at least 4 strikes before your 6th frame the lane will go to the next customer.
They are over priced and treat people that work for them horribly. A lot of law suits have been filed. So now the want to change there name. It’s all about covering up there hiring policies.
Sorry to hijack, but does this video take the place of the Top 5 strong/sharp that was coming in? I've been curious to see how you rank the Strong/Sharp specifically given how highly you talk about the Effect/Vaporize/Attention Star.
I bowled competitively back in the 70s and 80s. Took decades off. Came back just recently. I see the problem with bowling centers now is the absence of a pro. The guy drilling the balls is not a PBA Pro. Every bowling alley used to be run by a pro. The pro made sure the bowlers were paramount.
It's basically entertainment for families and does nothing for the actual league bowlers or competitive bowlers or just gives "bowlero " more money n does zero for bowling and league n competitive bowlers imo
First step in closing down their bowling part….they will either spinoff bowling department or just start shutting them down because they aren’t profitable enough
If they are branching out of bowling, they are realizing the bowling centers are not the cash cows they thought they were. It takes a lot of maintenance for bowling alleys. This is a positive for independent bowling alleys that this giant corporation isn't going to gobble up all the competition and then shut them down.
Sigh.... Fair Lanes bought up struggling independents. AMF takes over Fair Lanes. Bowlero takes over AMF and Brunswick bowling centers. That is how Bowlero becomes about 95% of the centers here in Phoenix. Yeah, 5th largest metro area in the country and all we have is Bowlero centers. If I think about it, this metro area of about 5 million people only has Mesa East, GlenFair and Northgate. If you live smack dab in the middle of Mesa, Az, each of those independent centers are about a 40 mile drive. And, they pretty much did the same thing in Denver
@susanconnelly6915    Phoenix, Arizona is the fifth largest city in the United States by population and is larger than Los Angeles in terms of land area: Population: Phoenix is the fifth most populated city in the United States. Land area: Phoenix is larger than Los Angeles, New York City, and Chicago in terms of land area. Phoenix is also the most populated state capital in the country.
@@SteveWalsh-hx3ge Your comment says metro area. A metro area is not a city, by population or land size. It is short for metropolitan statistical area. A metro area includes the surrounding suburbs. Learn the difference between the two. Words mean things. Phoenix is barely #10 with 6k in population more than Boston. Nice try though with all your little "links", hope you didn't waste too much time defending being wrong.
I hate Bowlero. That said, if Bowlero were to target the Lucky Strike centers at the entertainment market, and target the Bowlero centers at the sports market, they could more effectively differentiate the fun centers from the league/tournament centers. Right now the good Bowlero centers are lumped in with the all day disco bowl centers, because they all operate as the same brand. Make an honest effort to shift the sport of bowling into Bowlero, and get rid of all nonsense, and Bowlero centers will see benefits. Make lucky strike the disco bowling, night club, and one time a year recreational bowler center, and make both the bowlers and non-bowlers happy.
I knew from my own center that Bowlero did not care about league bowlers, only their bottom line. I agree with so many others who have said that they are ruining the sport of bowling as we know it. Prices continue to go up and the service is getting worse. This is not a good move from a very bad and misinformed company.
Sounds like the type of place that won't have a proshop on site. We have one of those. It's more geared to be like a Dave and Busters with a bowling alley. No serious bowlers play there.
Not having any Bowleros near you must be great. They've bought up two in my area, removed their pro shops for arcade machines, and now charge $10 or more per game. I don't see how this brand is good for bowling whatsoever and independent centers will just keep declining or closing post COVID. Sigh. I'm in the Bay Area near Oakland, by the way.
Overly optimistic theory. I'd look at it quite the opposite way: if you think Bowlero wasn't investing enough in bowling when it was their core business, how can you possibly think they'll invest more when bowling is one of many unrelated lines in an old-school conglomerate? Theme parks and other entertainment businesses are not going to generate profit that can be put into bowling. And if these lines could, why would Bowlero do that? No, this is a road to diluting the marketing and investment focus that bowling has been getting, and, ultimately, it is probably going to be an overreach for what I perceive to be not a very savvy or experienced senior management group. It's the beginning of the end.
Bowlero should not own the PBA. This is a direct conflict of interests. The PBA needs to be independent of a chain that dictates rules and regulations that benefits its bottom line and does nothing to improve the quality of the sport. It also stops other big sponsors from stepping in to spend advertising money on the sport.
Also way to expensive spent 200 bucks for 3 people to bowl 3 games a peice and two drinks a peice for 2 people. The staff now rude have to go through a metel detector and security after 6pm sucked
BS. They are removing lanes and putting in arcades and laser tag. They own 80% of the bowling centers in Maryland. They buy up family owned centers to shut them down. Bowlero is eliminating league bowling at many centers. They are eliminating pro shops at many centers. The two near me are closing for the entire two week Christmas break. I pray they don't got pouring in steering pin setters and eliminate oil.
Disagree. They will put money into what’s making the most money. They won’t use entertainment revenue to fund bowling. Only bowling revenues to fund bowling. Per location I’m sure
I personally think with them expanding their offerings, it will get more people exposed to bowling via advertisements in the non bowling entertainment venues with the rebrand. I can see it helping expand interest in the sport!
Bowlero Is not growing. Look at the stock hovering around $11 bucks. Bowling alleys will be an afterthought and the PBA will end up on string pins. Sadly league bowling will fade away. RIP to the sport of bowling In the USA
I truly think that the only thing that can save the sport of bowling in the US is bowling ball manufacturers. After all, they are the only ones who care about league bowlers, because league bowlers are the only ones who buy their balls and their bags and their gear. Eventually, Storm and Brunswick are going to have to start buying up bowling alleys from Bowlero, to keep them for league bowlers or face going mostly out of business.
It's sad when in NJ, we have less than 45 independent-run bowling centers, and I'm using a kind estimate. There are maybe three (3) scratch bowling leagues in the entire state. It's a travesty to see an assortment of top-level bowlers, who are a mixture of County, State, USBC, and/or PBA/LPBT/PWBA Hall of Famers, Champions, etc., all bowling in handicap leagues or string-pin leagues.
They need to make a sport bowling section. People get tired of bowling on lanes used for party bowling
Yes, last night I bowled next to a group of annoying adults. Dropped the balls high asf (3ft) and laughed it off constantly.
I've always said this but they chase $ so open play and parties are the focus
That has been going on for years before Bowlero came into the game.😱
Bowlero centers are horrible. They do not care about league bowling! Independents centers are better
Big facts!!! One of my home alleys (there’s three near me), have sixty four lanes!!!!! One of the centers is bolero, the another one is AMF. The one I’m talking about is independently owned. the AMF centers have 32 lanes and the Bolero one have 64 (just like the local one). Here’s the difference, the local one separate league bowlers from casual bowlers. One side of the house is well lit and there’s no music, while the other side be dark and loud. They even keep those lanes more oil compared to the non league bowlers side. Everytime I go to bolero I have to deal with kids running all on the lane and adults standing at the ball return. You can’t see the arrows and the music be so loud. I don’t care about arcade games, I want to bowl. I want to have some drinks and bowl. I hate them so bad that I actually pass bolero to go to my local one. Bolero is a ten minute drive, while the other one is a twenty minute drive. I hate bolero with a passion
I drive forty minutes everyweek just to bowl league at a Spare Time house. Family owned and operated. They actually take pride into the care of their house. Always clean, lanes are in great shape and up to date pinsetters. Our hometowns Bowlero is filthy, pinsetters are dated, cracked pins everywhere, approaches are in rough shape, oil machine constantly breaks down. They only care about open bowling. I will never bowl there again.
I'm going to my league at a Bowlero this evening. Best league I have ever been on in 45 years. We have 40 teams and use every alley. Super competitive, most everyone averages in the 200s. First place is $20k. Beers are $8, luckily I don't drink when I bowl.
@@drwisdom1 You got a problem with banquets?
They just bought a center I bowl at it seems like they actually improved everything. Although it’s only been a few months. I guess I’ll see what happens in the long run
"more money put in the bowling side" That's a funny one.
One thing you can guarantee is that any new profits will not get put back into the bowling side of the business.
Have never bowled at a Bowlero center, but any company that is "expanding" to water parks and arcades/entertainment centers is NOT putting money back into their bowling centers. That's not how business works. They are doing the opposite. Using the money from their bowling centers to help fund the growth of the other business ventures. Bowlero will most likely drain the bowling centers of whatever they can while building these other businesses and then sell the original centers off to someone else, either a single company or back to smaller owners.
It’s time that this corporation comes to an end. Some of my bowling alleys that I grew up at were bought out by them. It’s time that we make every Bowling Alley independent again.
Hope they don't screw up the other entertainment places like they did bowling. They are only in it for $$$. Took over one of our bowling centers and pushed out the leagues. Only open bowl now. Last year they went string pins. The only good Bowlero centers are the ones the PBA bowls in. They don't keep the lanes up on the others. They also still have several lawsuits pending for age discrimination. Maybe that is why they need the $$$.
When I hear the name Lucky Strike, I think of the cigarettes.
Yea I was gonna say is this even legal 🤣
I warned yall this would happen!!! Bowling will die sooner then I thought!!! When one company owns EVERYTHING, all it takes is one change, and the entire sport is done!!!!!
Sadly it’s just a matter of time before tons of centers turn into string pins as well!!!!
More centers and rebrand equals more charge to the customers. Prices are extremely ridiculous now and most likely will sky rocket
Hey guys, I've got a great idea, lets rename ourselves after cigarettes!
I posted "They are going to get smoked!" and it got taken down. Maybe should have put up a 😂so they knew it was a joke about cigarettes.
Hey, congratulations!!! I just saw that Bowlersmart picked up your video!!! 🎉🎉🎉
Wait really? Where’d you see that at?
@ZVLBowling it's on their FB page
Different name, same shitty service for outrageous prices. They'll ruin whatever they touch.
Sadly but truly bowling hasn’t been the same in the past 10 or so years as far as rules changing and most importantly Bowlero steady buying bowling centers and turning them into entertainment centers. I respect and understand it but when it comes to caring more for open bowlers vs league bowlers, I definitely feel like something is wrong with that TBH. I understand it from a business perspective though.
Yet another step away from bowling and more distractions. Lots of flash and lots of cash and people who want to bowl can expect higher prices. I don't like the distracting screens, the lights so low you can't even see the arrows, the blaring video music... I just want to pay attention to my bowling. In our area, Bowlero has bought up all the bowling centers creating a monopoly and skyrocketing prices. A per game cost of $8 - $10 a game is the norm now and I am sure it will go up with this new focus on "entertainment'. I don't want to be "entertained", I just want to bowl.
We have a new alley in Cheyenne with led backboard and it’s absolutely horrible. The glare on the lanes is so bad you can’t even see the arrows
Feel like they should have maintained the Bowlero brand for bowling and just put it under a larger corporate entity for entertainment in general. Lucky strikes is also an odd name and is associated with cigarettes.
Excellent, now they can raise the price of a game to an even $7.50 and I hear that if you don't have at least 4 strikes before your 6th frame the lane will go to the next customer.
Bring it on. Let the market decide. Non corperate and non string pin center owners need to unite.
They are over priced and treat people that work for them horribly. A lot of law suits have been filed. So now the want to change there name. It’s all about covering up there hiring policies.
More money to buy up independent bowling centers to convert into terrible bowlero centers
Yuck. Entertainment center sounds like parties for 8 year olds - less focus on bowling.
The arcade of bowling, pretty soon they will have string balls to go with their string pins.
About time. Half the calls are because the ball didn't come back!
Ha ha ! Very funny 😆
Sorry to hijack, but does this video take the place of the Top 5 strong/sharp that was coming in? I've been curious to see how you rank the Strong/Sharp specifically given how highly you talk about the Effect/Vaporize/Attention Star.
I bowled competitively back in the 70s and 80s. Took decades off. Came back just recently. I see the problem with bowling centers now is the absence of a pro. The guy drilling the balls is not a PBA Pro. Every bowling alley used to be run by a pro. The pro made sure the bowlers were paramount.
It's basically entertainment for families and does nothing for the actual league bowlers or competitive bowlers or just gives "bowlero " more money n does zero for bowling and league n competitive bowlers imo
"It's Toasted"
Hilarious, and grimly on point. It’s toasted.
First step in closing down their bowling part….they will either spinoff bowling department or just start shutting them down because they aren’t profitable enough
I hope not😢
I hope they shut them down and local lanes open up
If not profitable, the center would have been closed already. They've been doing that the past several years.
Lucky Strikes Entertainment... are there "strings" attached? 😂
When I first started bowling it was Don Carter's. When I had to quit it was AMF. I came back 4 months ago and it's Bowlero. Good, better, horrible.
The name "Bowlero" is literally the only redeeming quality of Bowlero.
"upscale interior" = prices go up!
If they are branching out of bowling, they are realizing the bowling centers are not the cash cows they thought they were. It takes a lot of maintenance for bowling alleys. This is a positive for independent bowling alleys that this giant corporation isn't going to gobble up all the competition and then shut them down.
Sigh.... Fair Lanes bought up struggling independents. AMF takes over Fair Lanes. Bowlero takes over AMF and Brunswick bowling centers. That is how Bowlero becomes about 95% of the centers here in Phoenix. Yeah, 5th largest metro area in the country and all we have is Bowlero centers. If I think about it, this metro area of about 5 million people only has Mesa East, GlenFair and Northgate. If you live smack dab in the middle of Mesa, Az, each of those independent centers are about a 40 mile drive. And, they pretty much did the same thing in Denver
Fifth largest metro in the country? I think Houston would like to have a word with you. So would Washington, Miami, Philadelphia, Atlanta...
@susanconnelly6915



Phoenix, Arizona is the fifth largest city in the United States by population and is larger than Los Angeles in terms of land area:
Population: Phoenix is the fifth most populated city in the United States.
Land area: Phoenix is larger than Los Angeles, New York City, and Chicago in terms of land area.
Phoenix is also the most populated state capital in the country.
@@SteveWalsh-hx3ge Your comment says metro area. A metro area is not a city, by population or land size. It is short for metropolitan statistical area. A metro area includes the surrounding suburbs. Learn the difference between the two. Words mean things. Phoenix is barely #10 with 6k in population more than Boston. Nice try though with all your little "links", hope you didn't waste too much time defending being wrong.
I hate Bowlero. That said, if Bowlero were to target the Lucky Strike centers at the entertainment market, and target the Bowlero centers at the sports market, they could more effectively differentiate the fun centers from the league/tournament centers. Right now the good Bowlero centers are lumped in with the all day disco bowl centers, because they all operate as the same brand. Make an honest effort to shift the sport of bowling into Bowlero, and get rid of all nonsense, and Bowlero centers will see benefits. Make lucky strike the disco bowling, night club, and one time a year recreational bowler center, and make both the bowlers and non-bowlers happy.
I knew from my own center that Bowlero did not care about league bowlers, only their bottom line. I agree with so many others who have said that they are ruining the sport of bowling as we know it. Prices continue to go up and the service is getting worse. This is not a good move from a very bad and misinformed company.
Also to top it off they have 90 lanes and bunched everyone together.
Still owns the PBA - Professional Bowlers Association
Sounds like the type of place that won't have a proshop on site.
We have one of those. It's more geared to be like a Dave and Busters with a bowling alley.
No serious bowlers play there.
Not having any Bowleros near you must be great. They've bought up two in my area, removed their pro shops for arcade machines, and now charge $10 or more per game. I don't see how this brand is good for bowling whatsoever and independent centers will just keep declining or closing post COVID. Sigh. I'm in the Bay Area near Oakland, by the way.
Hopefully, this will be great news for the PBA and league bowlers!
Overly optimistic theory. I'd look at it quite the opposite way: if you think Bowlero wasn't investing enough in bowling when it was their core business, how can you possibly think they'll invest more when bowling is one of many unrelated lines in an old-school conglomerate? Theme parks and other entertainment businesses are not going to generate profit that can be put into bowling. And if these lines could, why would Bowlero do that? No, this is a road to diluting the marketing and investment focus that bowling has been getting, and, ultimately, it is probably going to be an overreach for what I perceive to be not a very savvy or experienced senior management group. It's the beginning of the end.
Tell me you hate owning a bowling center without telling me you hate owning a bowling center.
When is the 2024 year in review for weak smooth coming out…two handed bowler hear could use some recommendations
This video sounds like a Bowlero/Lucky Strike ad. If it is not, this guy is dreaming, Bowlero putting more money in the PBA or the sport, ha!
Bowlero should not own the PBA. This is a direct conflict of interests. The PBA needs to be independent of a chain that dictates rules and regulations that benefits its bottom line and does nothing to improve the quality of the sport. It also stops other big sponsors from stepping in to spend advertising money on the sport.
Also way to expensive spent 200 bucks for 3 people to bowl 3 games a peice and two drinks a peice for 2 people. The staff now rude have to go through a metel detector and security after 6pm sucked
Does the Stock Ticker change?
yes its changing from BOWL to LUCK i think
BS. They are removing lanes and putting in arcades and laser tag. They own 80% of the bowling centers in Maryland. They buy up family owned centers to shut them down.
Bowlero is eliminating league bowling at many centers. They are eliminating pro shops at many centers.
The two near me are closing for the entire two week Christmas break.
I pray they don't got pouring in steering pin setters and eliminate oil.
"LUCKY" strikes eh?, let's see how long it takes before they get into the Casino business...
stop killing our local family centers.
Named after an Obsolete Cigarette brand…. Just so they can charge 6x more than other bowling centers instead of just 5x…
Bowlero sucks balls... fun with puns
They just took over Thunderbowl in Allen Park Michigan. Went two days ago did not like it
Disagree. They will put money into what’s making the most money. They won’t use entertainment revenue to fund bowling. Only bowling revenues to fund bowling. Per location I’m sure
Who care about food menu and paint on the wall. Put some oil down and keep out the people who don’t care about the sport
Bowlero is going to ruin the sport. Well they’ve already started by not catering to leagues followed by converting centers to string pin.
I won t bowl in their centers
I personally think with them expanding their offerings, it will get more people exposed to bowling via advertisements in the non bowling entertainment venues with the rebrand. I can see it helping expand interest in the sport!
You’re dreaming!
Bowlero sucks. Filthy bathrooms, broken down equipment, very pricey compared to the mom and pops.
Bowlero Is not growing. Look at the stock hovering around $11 bucks. Bowling alleys will be an afterthought and the PBA will end up on string pins. Sadly league bowling will fade away. RIP to the sport of bowling In the USA
I truly think that the only thing that can save the sport of bowling in the US is bowling ball manufacturers. After all, they are the only ones who care about league bowlers, because league bowlers are the only ones who buy their balls and their bags and their gear. Eventually, Storm and Brunswick are going to have to start buying up bowling alleys from Bowlero, to keep them for league bowlers or face going mostly out of business.
It's sad when in NJ, we have less than 45 independent-run bowling centers, and I'm using a kind estimate. There are maybe three (3) scratch bowling leagues in the entire state. It's a travesty to see an assortment of top-level bowlers, who are a mixture of County, State, USBC, and/or PBA/LPBT/PWBA Hall of Famers, Champions, etc., all bowling in handicap leagues or string-pin leagues.