The PBA World Series of Bowling (WSOB) is an annual multi-tournament

ten-pin bowling 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 ...

event held by the

Professional Bowlers Association 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. Membe ...

(PBA) in North America.

Formation

The inaugural World Series of Bowling event was held by the PBA at the start of the 2009–10

PBA Tour 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 profes ...

season (August 2 through September 6, 2009), and took place in the

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Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...

suburbs of

Allen Park Allen Park is a city in Wayne County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 Census, the population was 28,638. Ford Motor Company is an integral part of the community. Many of the company's offices and facilities lie within the city lim ...

and

Taylor Taylor, Taylors or Taylor's may refer to: People * Taylor (surname) ** List of people with surname Taylor * Taylor (given name), including Tayla and Taylah * Taylor sept, a branch of Scottish clan Cameron * Justice Taylor (disambiguation) ...

. Part of the reason for developing the World Series, given the U.S. economic recession at the time, was to consolidate multiple tournaments into one location to save on travel and broadcast crew costs. The World Series included five “animal pattern” tournaments (Cheetah, Viper, Chameleon, Scorpion and Shark), each named for a custom lane-oiling pattern. All of the animal pattern tournaments took place in Allen Park's Thunderbowl Lanes. A stand-alone tournament at nearby Taylor Lanes, the Motor City Open, was also considered part of the inaugural World Series of Bowling. In addition to being stand-alone title tournaments, the animal pattern events served as initial qualifying for that season's

PBA World Championship The PBA World Championship is one of five major PBA (Professional Bowlers Association) bowling events. It is one of three PBA Tour major events that are open only to PBA members. (The U.S. Open and USBC Masters allow qualifying amateurs to enter.) ...

major. While television tapings for the final rounds of the Motor City Open and all five animal pattern tournaments took place September 5 and 6, the PBA World Championship finals were not held until December 13, 2009 in

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History

World Series of Bowling II moved to

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish language, Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the List of United States cities by population, 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the U.S. state, state of Neva ...

for the 2010–11 season. The event had five animal oil pattern events, with the PBA World Championship again running in a split format (qualifying in late October through early November, 2010, with the final rounds on January 14–16, 2011). Subsequent events ran only four or three animal pattern tournaments, but continued to use these events as initial qualifying for the PBA World Championship. After being held in Las Vegas for the next four years, the event moved to

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for three consecutive seasons. The World Series of Bowling has run every PBA season since its inception, except for

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. After

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acquired the PBA television rights earlier that year, the decision was made to move the World Series to a spring event so it would be included in Fox's TV schedule. Thus, World Series of Bowling X was moved from late 2018 to March 2019, and was held in its original home of Allen Park, MI. Tournament formats and qualifying have changed over the years. For the 2023 season, the WSOB has a maximum field of 96 entrants. Priority registration is given to the top 50 players in 2022 season points, 20 international invitees not in the top 50, and up to 16 other PBA Tour title holders making up a maximum 86 priority entries. The other 10 entries come from an eight-game Pre-Tournament Qualifier (PTQ). If the number of priority entries is below 86, more spots are filled from the PTQ.

Event Results

World Series of Bowling I

Dates: August 2–September 6, 2009 and December 13, 2009
Location: Allen Park, MI, except where noted Events:

World Series of Bowling II

Dates: October 25–November 6, 2010 and January 14–16, 2011
Location:

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a state in the Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the 7th-most extensive, ...

Events:

World Series of Bowling III

Dates: November 5–19, 2011
Location:

Events: Notes: WSOB III was the first and only World Series in which all events were won by players from outside North America.

World Series of Bowling IV

Dates: November 3–11, 2012
Location:

Events:

World Series of Bowling V

Dates: October 25–November 3, 2013
Location:

Events:

World Series of Bowling VI

Dates: October 25–November 2, 2014
Location:

Events:

World Series of Bowling VII

Dates: December 8–19, 2015
Location:

Events:

World Series of Bowling VIII

Dates: November 29–December 11, 2016
Location: Reno, Nevada Events:

World Series of Bowling IX

Dates: November 8–19, 2017
Location: Reno, Nevada Events:

World Series of Bowling X

Dates: March 12–21, 2019
Location: Allen Park, Michigan Events:

World Series of Bowling XI

Dates: March 6–15, 2020 & October 1–5, 2020
Location: Las Vegas, Nevada &

Centreville, Virginia Centreville is a census-designated place (CDP) in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States and a suburb of Washington, D.C. The population was 73,518 as of the 2020 census. Centreville is approximately west of Washington, D.C. History Coloni ...

The PBA's World Series of Bowling XI. which includes three standard PBA title events and the PBA World Championship, was scheduled to take place March 6–18, 2020 in

, with live finals broadcasts occurring across four consecutive days on FS1 (one Sunday afternoon broadcast on March 15, followed by three prime time evening broadcasts on March 16–18). However, due to the

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, only the PBA World Championship was completed in March. The match play rounds and finals of the other three tournaments were postponed, and eventually rescheduled for October 1–5, 2020. The location for the animal pattern tournament conclusions was also changed to

, allowing it to follow the PBA League event. Events:

World Series of Bowling XII

Dates: March 5–17, 2021
Location:

Tampa, Florida Tampa () is a city on the Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and the seat of Hillsborough C ...

The PBA announced on January 15, 2021 that World Series of Bowling XII would take place in Tampa, Florida on March 7–17, with a pre-tournament qualifier (PTQ) on March 5. As in the previous season, WSOB XII included three animal pattern events (Cheetah, Chameleon, Scorpion) plus the PBA World Championship major. This season's WSOB also hosted the Roth- Holman PBA Doubles Championship. Combined pinfall from the three animal pattern qualifying rounds determines the top 30 that move on to the PBA World Championship cashers round, and also determines the top 16 teams that advance to the Roth-Holman Doubles match play rounds.

World Series of Bowling XIII

Dates: March 3–16, 2022
Location:

Wauwatosa, Wisconsin Wauwatosa (; known informally as Tosa; originally Wau-wau-too-sa or Hart's Mill) is a city in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 48,387 at the 2020 census. Wauwatosa is located immediately west of Milwaukee, and is a pa ...

World Series of Bowling XIII took place in Wauwatosa, WI on March 3–16, with a pre-tournament qualifier (PTQ) on March 1. As in the previous season, WSOB XIII includes three animal pattern events (Cheetah, Scorpion, Shark) plus the PBA World Championship major. Combined pinfall from the three animal pattern qualifying rounds determines the top 30 that move on to the PBA World Championship cashers round. This season's WSOB opens with the Roth- Holman PBA Doubles Championship.

References

{{PBA tour events Ten-pin bowling competitions in the United States