The PBA World Series of Bowling (WSOB) is an annual multi-tournament ten-pin bowling event held by the Professional Bowlers Association (PBA) in North America.
The inaugural World Series of Bowling event was held by the PBA at the start of the PBA Tour season (August 2 through September 6, 2009), and took place in the Detroit, Michigan suburbs of Allen Park and Taylor. 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 brainchild of then-Deputy Commissioner Tom Clark, the World Series included five âÂÂanimal patternâ 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 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 Wichita, Kansas.
World Series of Bowling II moved to Las Vegas for the . 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 14âÂÂ16, 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 Reno, Nevada for three consecutive seasons.
The World Series of Bowling has run every PBA season since its inception, except for . After Fox Sports 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.
Bowlers from over 30 countries have participated in the World Series of Bowling. PBA Commissioner Tom Clark has credited the WSOB with inspiring an influx of international players who now regularly compete on the PBA Tour.
Tournament formats and qualifying have changed over the years. For the 2024 season, the WSOB had a maximum field of 108 entrants. Priority registration was given to the top 50 PBA players in 2023 season points, up to 20 international invitees not in the top 50, and any other PBA Tour title holders who are not in either previous group. The remaining entries came from a seven-game Pre-Tournament Qualifier (PTQ). Following the PTQ, all 108 bowlers rolled 15 games of qualifying per animal pattern tournament, split into three blocks. The 45 total games of qualifying determined the top 16 bowlers for the PBA World Championship Match Play rounds. The top 16 players in each animal pattern tournament had their own 16-game match play rounds leading to the five-player stepladder finals. The PBA World Championship qualifiers had a 16-game match play round to determine the top nine seeds. The 5âÂÂ9 seeds bowled a play-in stepladder to determine the fifth seed for the televised finals, while the top four seeds automatically advanced to the telecast.
Dates: August 2âÂÂSeptember 6, 2009 and December 13, 2009<br> Location: Allen Park, MI, except where noted
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Dates: October 25âÂÂNovember 6, 2010 and January 14âÂÂ16, 2011<br> Location: Las Vegas, Nevada
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Dates: November 5âÂÂ19, 2011<br> Location: Las Vegas, Nevada
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Notes: WSOB III was the first and only World Series in which all events were won by players from outside North America.
Dates: November 3âÂÂ11, 2012<br> Location: Las Vegas, Nevada
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Dates: October 25âÂÂNovember 3, 2013<br> Location: Las Vegas, Nevada
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Dates: October 25âÂÂNovember 2, 2014<br> Location: Las Vegas, Nevada
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Dates: December 8âÂÂ19, 2015<br> Location: Reno, Nevada
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Dates: November 29âÂÂDecember 11, 2016<br> Location: Reno, Nevada
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Dates: November 8âÂÂ19, 2017<br> Location: Reno, Nevada
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Dates: March 12âÂÂ21, 2019<br> Location: Allen Park, Michigan
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Dates: March 6âÂÂ15, 2020 & October 1âÂÂ5, 2020<br> Location: Las Vegas, Nevada & Centreville, Virginia
The PBA's World Series of Bowling XI. which included three standard PBA title events and the PBA World Championship, was scheduled to take place March 6âÂÂ18, 2020 in Las Vegas, 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 16âÂÂ18). However, due to the coronavirus pandemic, 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 1âÂÂ5, 2020. The location for the animal pattern tournament conclusions was also changed to Centreville, Virginia, allowing it to follow the PBA League event.
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Dates: March 5âÂÂ17, 2021<br> Location: Tampa, Florida
The PBA announced on January 15, 2021 that World Series of Bowling XII would take place in Tampa, Florida on March 7âÂÂ17, 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.
Dates: March 3âÂÂ16, 2022<br> Location: Wauwatosa, Wisconsin
World Series of Bowling XIII took place in Wauwatosa, WI on March 3âÂÂ16, with a pre-tournament qualifier (PTQ) on March 1. As in the previous season, WSOB XIII included three animal pattern events (Cheetah, Scorpion, Shark) plus the PBA World Championship major. Combined pinfall from the three animal pattern qualifying rounds determined the top 30 that move on to the PBA World Championship cashers round. This season's WSOB opened with the Roth-Holman PBA Doubles Championship.
Dates: April 7âÂÂ23, 2023<br> Location: Wauwatosa, Wisconsin
World Series of Bowling XIV took place in Wauwatosa, WI on April 9âÂÂ23, with a pre-tournament qualifier (PTQ) on April 7. WSOB XIV included three animal pattern events (Cheetah, Scorpion, Shark) plus the PBA World Championship major. Combined pinfall from the three 20-game animal pattern qualifying rounds determined the top 12 that moved on to World Championship match play. This season's WSOB television coverage opened with the USA vs. the World non-title event.
Dates: April 2âÂÂ21, 2024<br> Location: Allen Park, MI
World Series of Bowling XV returned to Allen Park, MI on April 2âÂÂ21, kicked off by the Roth-Holman Doubles Championship on April 4 (PTQ on April 2). The pre-tournament qualifier (PTQ) for all singles events was April 6. In addition to the Doubles Championship, WSOB XV included three animal pattern events (Cheetah, Scorpion, Shark) plus the PBA World Championship major. Combined pinfall from the three 15-game animal pattern qualifying rounds (45 games total) determined the top 16 that moved on to World Championship match play.
Dates: March 3âÂÂ22, 2025<br> Location: Reno, NV
The 16th PBA World Series of Bowling was held on March 3âÂÂ22, 2025 in Reno, Nevada. For the first time since 2017, the WSOB included four animal oil pattern events prior to the PBA World Championship. Also, the Viper Championship returned to the slate of events at the WSOB for the first time since World Series of Bowling VII in 2015.
Dates: April 29âÂÂMay 12, 2026 & June 13, 2026<br> Location: Brooklyn Park, MN & Allen Park, MI
The 17th PBA World Series of Bowling is set to take place in Greater Minneapolis on April 29 (PTQ) through May 12, with the PBA World Championship semifinals and finals contested in Allen Park, Michigan on June 13. As in 2025, there will be four animal pattern events that serve as initial qualifying for the PBA World Championship. All animal pattern finals broadcasts will also include the finals of a concurrent PBA50 World Series of Bowling event.
The World Series of Bowling concept was introduced on the PBA50 Tour (for players 50 years of age and over) in the 2023 season. The PBA50 World Series of Bowling featured three standard PBA50 events (PBA50 Ballard Championship, PBA50 Monacelli Championship and PBA50 Petraglia Championship) on three different oil patterns named after PBA Hall of Famers, followed by the PBA50 National Championship major. A full field of 192 players aged 50 and older competed, with all events taking place July 15-23 in Jackson, Michigan. The PBA50 WSOB continues into the present day, and will host its fourth annual event in May, 2026.