Understanding the Bowler for the United States Bowling Congress

Client Challenge

The United States Bowling Congress is the national governing body for the sport of bowling, overseeing its championship tournaments, certification standards and more than 700,000 members. Over several years, USBC needed independent research to guide a connected set of decisions: how to improve satisfaction at its Open and Women's Championships, how to win back competitors who had stopped attending, and how to weigh the effect of evolving ball and lane technology on the sport. Answering these questions called for statistically grounded data on its bowlers, its lapsed participants, and the wider industry of pro shops and bowling centers.

Approach

Victus Advisors conducted multiple independent research studies for USBC over nearly a decade, each built on large-sample surveys and rigorous statistical analysis. At the 2014 Open and Women's Championships in Reno, Nev., Victus surveyed bowlers on their satisfaction with the bowling experience, tournament operations and the host city, applying Top-2 Box scoring and regression-based key-driver analysis while also calculating direct spending and room-night estimates for the host market. In 2017, the work expanded across the industry, surveying nearly 20,000 USBC members alongside certified pro shop operators from IBPSIA and bowling center proprietors from BPAA to assess attitudes toward bowling ball and lane technology, with results segmented by bowler average and modeled to reveal the drivers of satisfaction with the state of the sport. Then in 2022, Victus surveyed nearly 400 lapsed Women's Championships bowlers to understand why prior competitors had stopped participating, ranking the motivations and barriers behind their decisions about whether and where to bowl.

Benefits to Client

The research gave USBC a clear, data-backed view of its bowlers and the broader industry. The championship satisfaction work identified the specific experience and host-city factors most responsible for overall satisfaction, while quantifying the events' direct spending and roughly 152,000 room nights for the host city. The lost-bowler study showed that lapsed competitors remained satisfied with the event itself, at a 66% "Good" satisfaction rating, and that two-thirds intended to return, pinpointing host-city appeal as the single most important factor in their decision to bowl. The technology survey captured how nearly 20,000 members and key industry stakeholders viewed equipment and lane-condition standards, equipping USBC leadership with the evidence to guide tournament planning, retention strategy and specification decisions with confidence.