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Pros will bowl into Medford PBA competition set in January 2002 By TIM TROWER The Professional Bowlers Association Tour will strike Medford, resulting in anything but spare change for the area's economy. In a three-year deal that will be signed and formally announced today, the world's best bowlers will compete in the Medford Open at Lava Lanes Jan. 8-13. The finals will be televised live on ESPN from the bowling center, which will undergo a major face lift to create stadium seating and accommodate large crowds. The tournament could bring the local economy as much as $11.25 million - at a time of year when it can most use it - making it one of the most significant financial endeavors in the Rogue Valley. "And that," said Julie Petretto, executive director of the Visitors and Convention Bureau, "is actually on the conservative side." By comparison, the hugely successful Rogue Valley Soccer Cup brings in about $10 million, she said. The projected bowling bounty is based on 5,000 visitors per day, an average taken from similar tournaments, with each spending $125 per day over six days. That figure is multiplied by three, a standard used universally by the tourism industry, said Petretto, to reflect local impact. Once in the community, the money goes from business to business. It will come during Medford's "shoulder" months, when tourism is at its lowest, from November through February. The added benefit of national TV exposure cannot even be measured, said Petretto. "If you're running an ad in the Wall Street Journal or the San Francisco Chronicle for this kind of exposure, it would cost millions," she said. "Medford could not afford it." The coup is the result of efforts by Lava Lanes owner Ric Donnelly, who has tried for three years to lure an event to one of his three centers. His other businesses are in Bend and Roseburg, and Medford won out over Bend following a visit by PBA representatives in December. The deciding factors, he said, were the Medford area's size and the proximity of an airport. "I'm sure they get calls daily and weekly from people asking them to come to their bowling centers," Donnelly said of the PBA. The tour has about 30 stops and many are entrenched as traditional sites. But the PBA is also looking for newer, bigger venues, he said. Using that criteria, the Medford facility easily qualified. The $6 million-plus facility is 50,000 square feet and was named the best new center by Bowlers Journal International magazine after it opened in August. Donnelly heads up the committee organizing the tournament, and one of its major tasks will be to raise local sponsorship funds of $35,000, which will be part of the $196,000 purse. Along with Lava Lanes, the major sponsors are the Visitors and Convention Bureau, the Rogue Regency Inn and Pepsi-Cola. Lava Lanes will be temporarily remodeled about a week before the tournament. Tables and chairs that are bolted down will be removed and replaced with bleachers, and for the final two days of the event, grandstands will be placed down the lanes for a stadium atmosphere. To top it off, electrical and phone equipment will have to be installed for PBA staff, media and ESPN. "It's a pretty big chore," said Donnelly. "You don't just turn the lanes on and let them bowl. You have to adapt." Donnelly has been to a half-dozen PBA events, in part to witness the operation. "I'm not really scared of it," he said. "There's a lot of work to do, but we'll learn a lot this year and, hopefully, we'll be better the second year." Randy Cochran, who operates the pro shop at Lava Lanes, estimates 2,000 amateur bowlers will compete in the pro-am tourney that accompanies the main event. "This is the most exciting deal in bowling that I've ever experienced," said Cochran. "It's probably bigger than anything that's happened professionally in this area. This is upscale. It just doesn't happen in Medford, Ore." Reach sports editor Tim Trower at 776-4479, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.